library pf heavens novel chapter 1361 to 1367 || number zero

 Chapter 1361: - You Poisoned the Wine? 

The disappearance of the vine seemed to have robbed the river of spiritual energy of its support, and with a resounding boom, it exploded. Rampaging spiritual energy diffused around the folded space, causing the entire folded space to ripple unstably. Sensing the disturbance in the spiritual energy, Harshit and the others were visibly stunned for a moment. They took a look at their surroundings before swiftly returning to pummeling the gourd. 

Peng peng peng peng! With the four Saint 7-dan experts utilizing all kinds of means and weapons against it, be it swords, sabers, spears, hammers, it did not take long before the gourd was lying completely paralyzed on the ground, seemingly on its final breath. “The gourd is going to die if you continue pummeling it. Why don’t you rest for a moment before continuing?” 

The alarmed vipin hurriedly rushed forward to persuade them to stop. “Un.” Harshit waved his hand, and the crowd finally came to a halt. At the same time, he grasped his hand tightly together, and surrounding space distorted to form a bubble around the Dongxu Gourd. “Alright, it’s done…” Sealing the Dongxu Gourd seemed to have sapped the last bit of energy within Harshit.

 His face turned pale as he slumped feebly to the ground. There was a time limit on how long the bloodline ability could remain activated for. Back then, jeet had only used three moves before he was unable to lift his fist at all. On the other hand, Harshit must have executed at least a hundred moves considering how long he had fought with the gourd, and that was really an impressive feat. “Congratulations!”

 The eyes of akabar and the others were filled with envy, but they still clasped their fist and offered their sincere congratulations to Harshit. Even though they would have loved to make the Dongxu Gourd their own, they were not willing to sacrifice their principles for that. Besides, given Harshit’s strength and standing, even though they were considered peers, they dared not offend him either. 

“If not for all of your help, there’s no way I could have succeeded,” Harshit said. Just as he was able to place the spatial bubble into his storage ring—he would only be able to assimilate the gourd after conditioning his body back to its peak state—a powerful shockwave abruptly burst forth from the seemingly lifeless gourd. Si la! A huge rift was torn in the spatial bubble, and the gourd dashed out.

 “Sh*t!” Harshit narrowed his eyes in horror. He had already depleted all of his strength due to the activation of his bloodline ability, and he could not even summon the slightest bit of energy in his powerless body anymore. If the Dongxu Gourd fled at this moment, there was no way he would be able to stop it! “Stop right there!” akabar and the others were startled for a moment, but they swiftly recovered and moved decisively to take down the Dongxu Gourd. 

After all of the suffering they had gone through and effort they had put in to take down the Dongxu Gourd, how could they allow it to escape now that they were only a step away from success? Sou sou sou! However, the gourd seemed to have known their attack trajectories in advance, and with just a slight shake, it managed to avoid the rain of attacks with ease. In the blink of an eye, it accelerated beyond the speed of sound, and it was headed in one specific direction. 

Toward vipin! “This…” vipin felt as if ants were running on his scalp, and he nearly fainted on the spot. I didn’t even make a move this time around, so why are you coming for me? “vipin, be careful!” the crowd shouted anxiously. Given how quickly the gourd was moving, vipin knew that it was already too late for him to hide. Thus, he gritted his teeth and braced himself to withstand the impact of the collision, just as he had done before. 

Hu! As soon as his palm came into contact with the Dongxu Gourd, he felt a searing pain assaulting his hand. The Dongxu Gourd had actually managed to puncture a glaring hole in his palm, causing fresh blood to spurt all around. Weng! In the presence of blood, the Dongxu Gourd did not bother dodging at all. Instead, it shook its bottom and prepared to make a second move. 

Hu la! This time, it dashed straight toward vipin’s abdomen. Given the strength of the gourd, should its attack really connect, his intestines would surely be ruptured, resulting in severe injuries! It’s not me; I’m not the one who pummeled you just now. The party who wanted to capture you is them, and the party who made a move on your earlier is them too! Why on earth are you coming for me instead? 

Tears nearly streamed down vipin’s eyes this time around, but he knew that this was no time for crying. He drove his zhenqi and attempted to grab hold of the gourd before it struck its abdomen, but it was futile. He only caught air. But surprisingly, the pain that he had anticipated did not arrive. Instead, the gourd vanished into his abdomen. “This…” vipin was stunned. He had no idea what to make of the current situation. The others also turned doubtful gazes in his direction. 

“Where is the gourd?” vipin looked around him anxiously, but the gourd was nowhere to be seen. He used his Spiritual Perception to gaze inwardly into his body, and his lips suddenly quivered. “W-why… why is it in my dantian?” Seated lazily in the depths of his dantian was the Dongxu Gourd. Upon sensing the presence of vipin’s Spiritual Perception, it even intentionally shook its bottom gleefully, as if flaunting its victory.

 “What?” Everyone quickly rushed forward and scanned vipin’s body with their Spiritual Perception. A moment later, Harshit slumped to the ground with a dazed look and muttered, “You have actually assimilated the Dongxu Gourd into your body…” “Assimilated?” “The Dongxu Gourd can help its owner comprehend the Dimension Sundering realm. As long as one assimilates it, one will be able to infuse it into one’s dantian,” Harshit explained with his eyes widened in disbelief. 

“However, the assimilation process is extremely complex. Not only does it require the cultivator to tribute their blood essence to it, more importantly, their cultivation must also have reached Saint 7-dan pinnacle at the very minimum in order to make it acknowledge them as its master. Considering that your cultivation is only at Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle, two realms away from Phantasmal Space realm pinnacle… just what on earth is going on here?” 

He had put in so much effort and paid such a heavy price before he managed to take down the Dongxu Gourd, but before he could assimilate it, it ended up diving into someone else’s dantian. Harshit could not help but clutch his suffocated chest, patting it forcefully to alleviate the pain. vipin’s face paled upon realizing what had happened, and he anxiously bellowed, “But I never intended to assimilate it! Gourd, you’d better come out right now!” 

He had come here to help his future brother-in-law procure what he needed, and to end up taking it for his own instead… You are really bent on destroying the noble and righteous image I have established before my future brother-in-law, aren’t you? You homewrecker! Hu hu! The gourd continued shaking its body gleefully.

 “You…” Seeing how the gourd continued flaunting its victory smugly, vipin felt so angry that his body quivered in rage. Left with no choice, he could only face Harshit with a deeply apologetic look. “harshit, I really had no intention of assimilating the Dongxu Gourd…” “I know.” Harshit shook his head and sighed in resignation. 

“Artifacts possess spirit as well. What’s not meant to be is simply not meant to be; there’s no point forcing it…” Even though he felt so stifled that he could spurt a bucketful of fresh blood out at the moment, he still managed to think things through. Given how the Dongxu Gourd had chosen to dive into vipin’s dantian despite all he had done, it could only mean that it had never been interested in him from the start! 

“I…” vipin’s face turned scarlet from embarrassment. He really did not know what he should say in such a situation. What the heck was this? He was supposed to be there to help, but with such a happening, who else would dare ask him out to hunt treasures in the future? vipin pondered for a moment before speaking up. 

“harshit’s intention of procuring the Dongxu Gourd is to push for a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm, right? If I can help you achieve a breakthrough, would it mean that it wouldn’t matter whether you had the Dongxu Gourd or not?” Considering how gleeful the Dongxu Gourd was acting, it did not seem like it would be coming out anytime soon. This matter could not be considered his fault, but nevertheless, he still felt deeply guilty for taking what should have belonged to Harshit. 

“Help me achieve a breakthrough?” Harshit was visibly surprised by vipin’s remark for a moment before he shook his head glumly. “Achieving a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm is not a small matter… Countless experts in history have been stuck at the Phantasmal Space realm, unable to take the final step forward. If not for that, I wouldn’t have traveled so far and paid such a heavy price to obtain the Dongxu Gourd!” 

Despite the various miraculous means the young man had displayed so far, the difficulty in achieving a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan was simply too great! Even cultivators who were privileged enough to receive the guidance from a 9-star master teacher might not necessarily be able to take the final step forward, let alone the fact that vipin was only at Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle! 

“Since this has already happened, why don’t you just give it a try?” vipin asked. If it had been a while ago, without having seen any Saint 8-dan cultivation technique manuals, there was no way he would have been able to help Harshit achieve a breakthrough even if he could compile a book on the latter’s flaws through the Library of Heaven’s Path. 

However, with his comprehension of space achieving the level of 3-dan Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel, as well as his assimilation of the Dongxu Gourd, he had already gained a significant understanding of the power of Dimension Sundering. With that and the Library of Heaven’s Path, he just might be able to help Harshit achieve a breakthrough to higher realms! “Give it a try? With the current state I am in, how can I give it a try?” Harshit said with a bitter smile. 

The activation of his bloodline ability had depleted all of his energy. Putting aside pushing for a breakthrough to higher realms, even walking normally was an arduous task to the current him! “Oh right… Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to help you alleviate the side effects resulting from the activation of your bloodline ability.” Saying those words, vipin immersed his consciousness back in the Library of Heaven’s Path and began studying the book he had just compiled on Harshit. 

He had compiled this book while Harshit and the others were fighting against the Dongxu Gourd. He had been intending to use it to explore the secrets concerning the unique bloodlines of Sage Clans, especially since he felt that it would come useful when he vied with the shan kabila for Pratyusha’s hand in marriage. 

The activation of the bloodline ability would result in damage to one’s spirit, mind, and vitality, putting one’s body in a state of extreme deficiency. In such a state, the cultivator would be unable to exert any strength, and any forceful attempt to do so would result in one’s cultivation declining… Reading the description in the book, vipin’s eyebrows knitted together. 

There was a fundamental limit to one’s potential, vitality, and spirit, and the activation of one’s bloodline would lead to excessive depletion of those. Without sufficient time, there was no way one could recover to full health. The Heaven’s Path zhenqi is able to heal injuries, open up blockages in the meridians, and restore the spirit, mind, vitality of the ill… I wonder if it will be effective in this situation too? 

vipin wondered. Due to the incredible purity of the Heaven’s Path zhenqi, it was able to easily dive into a cultivator’s meridians and cells to repair the damaged portions. In a sense, the depletion resulting from the activation of a unique bloodline was a similar problem. Perhaps, it might be of some use. With this thought in mind, vipin looked at Harshit straight in the eye and said, “harshit, I have thought of a way that could possibly help you recover from your weakened state swiftly!” “Oh? What kind of method is it?”

 Harshit asked curiously. The young man before him had produced too many miracles in the time they had spent together. While he did not bear too much hope in the matter —if there was truly such a method, top-notch Sage Clans like the shan kabila and the sant kabila would already have been using it by now—he still wanted to hear what the young man had in mind. 

“Simple.” vipin flicked his wrist and passed a vat over with a confident look on his face. “You just have to drink this!” “You want me to drink wine?” Harshit was still wondering what kind of solution the young man had in mind, but to think that it would be this. His eyebrows could not help but shoot up. shakshi stepped in and intervened. “Harshit’s body is currently in a bad shape.

 Drinking wine at this moment will only worsen his condition.” Are you serious about having Harshit drink your wine? Look at how frail he is at the moment! akabar also stepped forward and offered, “vipin, if you really wish to drink, why don’t I accompany you instead?” “This is the method to help him recover swiftly from the side effects of activating his bloodline ability,” vipin explained to the crowd before turning his gaze back to Harshit.

 “harshit, if you believe me, you should give it a try. If it succeeds, I’ll help you achieve a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan by today. Even if it fails, it’s just a vat of wine. It won’t cause too much harm to your current condition!” “This…” Seeing vipin’s insistence, Harshit hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly. 

“Alright then.” He took the wine from vipin’s hands and stared at it for a moment before raising his head and gulping down the wine. Gugugugu! As soon as the wine washed down his throat, a spicy feeling arose in Harshit’s body. However, it did not seem to be making any difference to his current condition at all. Just as he was about to berate the young man for fooling around, his body suddenly shuddered involuntarily. 

He widened his eyes in astonishment and exclaimed, “This wine… There’s something wrong with this wine!” “You poisoned the wine?” akabar immediately turned to vipin with a darkened face, and a powerful aura immediately burst forth from him. “…” Harshit. “…” vipin.

 ------oOo------ 

Chapter 1362: - Harshit's Breakthrough 

The disappearance of the vine seemed to have robbed the river of spiritual energy of its support, and with a resounding boom, it exploded. Rampaging spiritual energy diffused around the folded space, causing the entire folded space to ripple unstably. Sensing the disturbance in the spiritual energy, Harshit and the others were visibly stunned for a moment. They took a look at their surroundings before swiftly returning to pummeling the gourd. 

Peng peng peng peng! With the four Saint 7-dan experts utilizing all kinds of means and weapons against it, be it swords, sabers, spears, hammers, it did not take long before the gourd was lying completely paralyzed on the ground, seemingly on its final breath. “The gourd is going to die if you continue pummeling it. Why don’t you rest for a moment before continuing?” 

The alarmed vipin hurriedly rushed forward to persuade them to stop. “Un.” Harshit waved his hand, and the crowd finally came to a halt. At the same time, he grasped his hand tightly together, and surrounding space distorted to form a bubble around the Dongxu Gourd. “Alright, it’s done…” Sealing the Dongxu Gourd seemed to have sapped the last bit of energy within Harshit.

 His face turned pale as he slumped feebly to the ground. There was a time limit on how long the bloodline ability could remain activated for. Back then, jeet had only used three moves before he was unable to lift his fist at all. On the other hand, Harshit must have executed at least a hundred moves considering how long he had fought with the gourd, and that was really an impressive feat. “Congratulations!”

 The eyes of akabar and the others were filled with envy, but they still clasped their fist and offered their sincere congratulations to Harshit. Even though they would have loved to make the Dongxu Gourd their own, they were not willing to sacrifice their principles for that. Besides, given Harshit’s strength and standing, even though they were considered peers, they dared not offend him either. 

“If not for all of your help, there’s no way I could have succeeded,” Harshit said. Just as he was able to place the spatial bubble into his storage ring—he would only be able to assimilate the gourd after conditioning his body back to its peak state—a powerful shockwave abruptly burst forth from the seemingly lifeless gourd. Si la! A huge rift was torn in the spatial bubble, and the gourd dashed out.

 “Sh*t!” Harshit narrowed his eyes in horror. He had already depleted all of his strength due to the activation of his bloodline ability, and he could not even summon the slightest bit of energy in his powerless body anymore. If the Dongxu Gourd fled at this moment, there was no way he would be able to stop it! “Stop right there!” akabar and the others were startled for a moment, but they swiftly recovered and moved decisively to take down the Dongxu Gourd. 

After all of the suffering they had gone through and effort they had put in to take down the Dongxu Gourd, how could they allow it to escape now that they were only a step away from success? Sou sou sou! However, the gourd seemed to have known their attack trajectories in advance, and with just a slight shake, it managed to avoid the rain of attacks with ease. In the blink of an eye, it accelerated beyond the speed of sound, and it was headed in one specific direction. 

Toward vipin! “This…” vipin felt as if ants were running on his scalp, and he nearly fainted on the spot. I didn’t even make a move this time around, so why are you coming for me? “vipin, be careful!” the crowd shouted anxiously. Given how quickly the gourd was moving, vipin knew that it was already too late for him to hide. Thus, he gritted his teeth and braced himself to withstand the impact of the collision, just as he had done before. 

Hu! As soon as his palm came into contact with the Dongxu Gourd, he felt a searing pain assaulting his hand. The Dongxu Gourd had actually managed to puncture a glaring hole in his palm, causing fresh blood to spurt all around. Weng! In the presence of blood, the Dongxu Gourd did not bother dodging at all. Instead, it shook its bottom and prepared to make a second move. 

Hu la! This time, it dashed straight toward vipin’s abdomen. Given the strength of the gourd, should its attack really connect, his intestines would surely be ruptured, resulting in severe injuries! It’s not me; I’m not the one who pummeled you just now. The party who wanted to capture you is them, and the party who made a move on your earlier is them too! Why on earth are you coming for me instead? 

Tears nearly streamed down vipin’s eyes this time around, but he knew that this was no time for crying. He drove his zhenqi and attempted to grab hold of the gourd before it struck its abdomen, but it was futile. He only caught air. But surprisingly, the pain that he had anticipated did not arrive. Instead, the gourd vanished into his abdomen. “This…” vipin was stunned. He had no idea what to make of the current situation. The others also turned doubtful gazes in his direction. 

“Where is the gourd?” vipin looked around him anxiously, but the gourd was nowhere to be seen. He used his Spiritual Perception to gaze inwardly into his body, and his lips suddenly quivered. “W-why… why is it in my dantian?” Seated lazily in the depths of his dantian was the Dongxu Gourd. Upon sensing the presence of vipin’s Spiritual Perception, it even intentionally shook its bottom gleefully, as if flaunting its victory.

 “What?” Everyone quickly rushed forward and scanned vipin’s body with their Spiritual Perception. A moment later, Harshit slumped to the ground with a dazed look and muttered, “You have actually assimilated the Dongxu Gourd into your body…” “Assimilated?” “The Dongxu Gourd can help its owner comprehend the Dimension Sundering realm. As long as one assimilates it, one will be able to infuse it into one’s dantian,” Harshit explained with his eyes widened in disbelief. 

“However, the assimilation process is extremely complex. Not only does it require the cultivator to tribute their blood essence to it, more importantly, their cultivation must also have reached Saint 7-dan pinnacle at the very minimum in order to make it acknowledge them as its master. Considering that your cultivation is only at Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle, two realms away from Phantasmal Space realm pinnacle… just what on earth is going on here?” 

He had put in so much effort and paid such a heavy price before he managed to take down the Dongxu Gourd, but before he could assimilate it, it ended up diving into someone else’s dantian. Harshit could not help but clutch his suffocated chest, patting it forcefully to alleviate the pain. vipin’s face paled upon realizing what had happened, and he anxiously bellowed, “But I never intended to assimilate it! Gourd, you’d better come out right now!” 

He had come here to help his future brother-in-law procure what he needed, and to end up taking it for his own instead… You are really bent on destroying the noble and righteous image I have established before my future brother-in-law, aren’t you? You homewrecker! Hu hu! The gourd continued shaking its body gleefully.

 “You…” Seeing how the gourd continued flaunting its victory smugly, vipin felt so angry that his body quivered in rage. Left with no choice, he could only face Harshit with a deeply apologetic look. “harshit, I really had no intention of assimilating the Dongxu Gourd…” “I know.” Harshit shook his head and sighed in resignation. 

“Artifacts possess spirit as well. What’s not meant to be is simply not meant to be; there’s no point forcing it…” Even though he felt so stifled that he could spurt a bucketful of fresh blood out at the moment, he still managed to think things through. Given how the Dongxu Gourd had chosen to dive into vipin’s dantian despite all he had done, it could only mean that it had never been interested in him from the start! 

“I…” vipin’s face turned scarlet from embarrassment. He really did not know what he should say in such a situation. What the heck was this? He was supposed to be there to help, but with such a happening, who else would dare ask him out to hunt treasures in the future? vipin pondered for a moment before speaking up. 

“harshit’s intention of procuring the Dongxu Gourd is to push for a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm, right? If I can help you achieve a breakthrough, would it mean that it wouldn’t matter whether you had the Dongxu Gourd or not?” Considering how gleeful the Dongxu Gourd was acting, it did not seem like it would be coming out anytime soon. This matter could not be considered his fault, but nevertheless, he still felt deeply guilty for taking what should have belonged to Harshit. 

“Help me achieve a breakthrough?” Harshit was visibly surprised by vipin’s remark for a moment before he shook his head glumly. “Achieving a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm is not a small matter… Countless experts in history have been stuck at the Phantasmal Space realm, unable to take the final step forward. If not for that, I wouldn’t have traveled so far and paid such a heavy price to obtain the Dongxu Gourd!” 

Despite the various miraculous means the young man had displayed so far, the difficulty in achieving a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan was simply too great! Even cultivators who were privileged enough to receive the guidance from a 9-star master teacher might not necessarily be able to take the final step forward, let alone the fact that vipin was only at Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle! 

“Since this has already happened, why don’t you just give it a try?” vipin asked. If it had been a while ago, without having seen any Saint 8-dan cultivation technique manuals, there was no way he would have been able to help Harshit achieve a breakthrough even if he could compile a book on the latter’s flaws through the Library of Heaven’s Path. 

However, with his comprehension of space achieving the level of 3-dan Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel, as well as his assimilation of the Dongxu Gourd, he had already gained a significant understanding of the power of Dimension Sundering. With that and the Library of Heaven’s Path, he just might be able to help Harshit achieve a breakthrough to higher realms! “Give it a try? With the current state I am in, how can I give it a try?” Harshit said with a bitter smile. 

The activation of his bloodline ability had depleted all of his energy. Putting aside pushing for a breakthrough to higher realms, even walking normally was an arduous task to the current him! “Oh right… Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to help you alleviate the side effects resulting from the activation of your bloodline ability.” Saying those words, vipin immersed his consciousness back in the Library of Heaven’s Path and began studying the book he had just compiled on Harshit. 

He had compiled this book while Harshit and the others were fighting against the Dongxu Gourd. He had been intending to use it to explore the secrets concerning the unique bloodlines of Sage Clans, especially since he felt that it would come useful when he vied with the shan kabila for Pratyusha’s hand in marriage. 

The activation of the bloodline ability would result in damage to one’s spirit, mind, and vitality, putting one’s body in a state of extreme deficiency. In such a state, the cultivator would be unable to exert any strength, and any forceful attempt to do so would result in one’s cultivation declining… Reading the description in the book, vipin’s eyebrows knitted together. 

There was a fundamental limit to one’s potential, vitality, and spirit, and the activation of one’s bloodline would lead to excessive depletion of those. Without sufficient time, there was no way one could recover to full health. The Heaven’s Path zhenqi is able to heal injuries, open up blockages in the meridians, and restore the spirit, mind, vitality of the ill… I wonder if it will be effective in this situation too? 

vipin wondered. Due to the incredible purity of the Heaven’s Path zhenqi, it was able to easily dive into a cultivator’s meridians and cells to repair the damaged portions. In a sense, the depletion resulting from the activation of a unique bloodline was a similar problem. Perhaps, it might be of some use. With this thought in mind, vipin looked at Harshit straight in the eye and said, “harshit, I have thought of a way that could possibly help you recover from your weakened state swiftly!” “Oh? What kind of method is it?”

 Harshit asked curiously. The young man before him had produced too many miracles in the time they had spent together. While he did not bear too much hope in the matter —if there was truly such a method, top-notch Sage Clans like the shan kabila and the sant kabila would already have been using it by now—he still wanted to hear what the young man had in mind. 

“Simple.” vipin flicked his wrist and passed a vat over with a confident look on his face. “You just have to drink this!” “You want me to drink wine?” Harshit was still wondering what kind of solution the young man had in mind, but to think that it would be this. His eyebrows could not help but shoot up. shakshi stepped in and intervened. “Harshit’s body is currently in a bad shape.

 Drinking wine at this moment will only worsen his condition.” Are you serious about having Harshit drink your wine? Look at how frail he is at the moment! akabar also stepped forward and offered, “vipin, if you really wish to drink, why don’t I accompany you instead?” “This is the method to help him recover swiftly from the side effects of activating his bloodline ability,” vipin explained to the crowd before turning his gaze back to Harshit.

 “harshit, if you believe me, you should give it a try. If it succeeds, I’ll help you achieve a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan by today. Even if it fails, it’s just a vat of wine. It won’t cause too much harm to your current condition!” “This…” Seeing vipin’s insistence, Harshit hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly. 

“Alright then.” He took the wine from vipin’s hands and stared at it for a moment before raising his head and gulping down the wine. Gugugugu! As soon as the wine washed down his throat, a spicy feeling arose in Harshit’s body. However, it did not seem to be making any difference to his current condition at all. Just as he was about to berate the young man for fooling around, his body suddenly shuddered involuntarily. 

He widened his eyes in astonishment and exclaimed, “This wine… There’s something wrong with this wine!” “You poisoned the wine?” akabar immediately turned to vipin with a darkened face, and a powerful aura immediately burst forth from him. “…” Harshit. “…” vipin.

 ------oOo------ 

Chapter 1362: - Harshit's Breakthrough 

 “No, it’s not poison. Harshit’s complexion is improving!” Before vipin could explain himself, shakshi had spoken up. Her meticulous nature allowed her to immediately notice the slight changes within Harshit. Even though Harshit still looked as weak as before, unable to draw forth the slightest strength in his body, redness had started returning to his previously ghastly pale face. 

Seeing that he had misunderstood vipin, akabar hurriedly reined in his aura and scratched his head in embarrassment. He had seen how the young man had poisoned the Crimsontail Wasp King to death and declared that he would poison husain to death, so as soon as Harshit said that there was something wrong with the wine, the first thing that came to his mind was that the wine was poisoned. Gudong! 

Gudong! It did not take long for Harshit to down the entire vat of fine wine. Without his zhenqi protecting his body, he swiftly became intoxicated by the high concentration of alcohol in the wine.

 Nevertheless, his complexion and body seemed to have recovered significantly from before. If he had appeared to be a terminally-ill patient who seemed like he was standing at the gates to hell a moment ago, right now, he seemed more like a young man who had just been afflicted with a slight fever or something. Harshit looked at vipin with glazed eyes and asked, “Is there still any more wine?” 

“Here you go!” vipin took out another vat and passed it over. “Thank you…” Taking the vat, Harshit began gulping it down in huge mouthfuls. It was an established fact that after the activation of one’s bloodline ability, one would be unable to exert any might for an entire month. Yet, just by drinking a vat of wine, he felt the frailty that seemed to plague him right from the depths of his body starting to vanish! 

This was something that was unbelievable to him! One must know that the frailty after activating one’s bloodline ability was a problem that had plagued Sage Clans for countless years. Much research had been done to alleviate the problem, but there was still no feasible and affordable solution to resolve it. But as he gulped down more and more wine, he could feel his vitality swiftly coming back to him, returning to his peak state. 

By the time he was done with the second vat of wine, all frailty he felt had already vanished without a trace! “vipin…” The astounded Harshit turned to look at vipin, wanting to know how he managed to do it. “Close your eyes and don’t resist me…” vipin interrupted Harshit’s words with wave of his hand. Then, he flicked his finger, and countless needles flew over. Tzzzzzzz! As soon as the silver needles pierced into his body, Harshit immediately felt a unique energy coursing through his body.

 The meridians that had ended up getting blocked as a result of him activating his bloodline ability slowly opened up once more. To make an analogy, activating one’s bloodline ability was like causing a machine to go on overdrive. Once it cooled down, the energy that had gotten into narrow meridians would slowly agglutinate, causing blockages in the area, making it difficult for one to drive one’s zhenqi through them.

 In other words, what was blocking the meridians was not impurities but one’s own zhenqi! However, the energy that flowed through the silver needle melted the agglutinated zhenqi as if ice in the face of boiling water, clearing those meridians swiftly. In just moments, Harshit felt refreshed and energized, and strength swiftly returned to his body, surging through his entirety.

 “This…” akabar and the others glanced at one another, flabbergasted. Recovering one’s vitality through drinking wine could still be rationalized by the wine being concocted using potent recovery medicinal herbs… but to replenish one’s zhenqi just by sticking a few silver needles in, that was a little too exaggerated! Having recovered his zhenqi, Harshit no longer felt as withered before. 

He flicked his wrist, took out a pill, and threw it into his mouth. Geji! Geji! As he absorbed the energy harnessed within the pill, the energy in his body grew stronger and stronger. In less than an hour, he had already returned to his peak state. “You are really able to resolve the side effects from activating one’s bloodline ability…” Getting to his feet and feeling the strength coursing through his body, Harshit stared at the young man before him with a look of disbelief. 

Ever since he was young, his clan elders had always warned him against activating his bloodline ability easily, or else he would have to undergo a long period of recuperation. Who knew that the formation master he had coincidentally met would actually be able to resolve his problems so easily? “This is a secret art of mine, and it depletes my energy greatly as well, so I earnestly request for you all not to let this matter out,” vipin said with a pale face as he clasped his fist. Harshit’s cultivation was simply too much higher than his. 

He had needed to expend nearly all of his zhenqi before he was able to heal the other party. It would be best for him to avoid doing this in the future, or else he would probably die of overexertion after treating a couple of people. “Un.” It was apparent that vipin had also pushed himself a little too much in the recovery process, and the others also understood the significance of this matter.

 Thus, they swiftly nodded in agreement. After a short moment of rest, vipin said, “Since harshit has already recovered fully, let’s push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan right now then!” “Alright.” Harshit nodded. Then, with a slightly lost look on his face, he asked, “What should I do now?” Even though he had managed to recover to his full strength, he was still some way off from pushing for a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm. Otherwise, he would not have gone through the trouble of looking for the Dongxu Gourd either. 

“You should assimilate this item first.” vipin flicked his wrist and passed a vine over. Although the power of Dimension Sundering within the vine was slightly inferior to that of the Dongxu Gourd, it was apparent that assimilating it would do one much good in pushing for a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm. It was due this vine that he dared promise Harshit that he would help him achieve a breakthrough. 

“Alright.” Nodding, Harshit began pumping his zhenqi into the vine, attempting to assimilate it for his own. This was only a small segment of the entire vine, so it was not too difficult to assimilate it. It took him less than six hours to succeed. Within the period of time Harshit spent assimilating the vine, vipin had managed to recover fully as well. “Alright, store it in your dantian!” 

vipin instructed. Seeing how slow Harshit’s movement was, he tapped his finger forward. Tz la! The vine immediately dived right into Harshit’s dantian. “This…” Harshit widened his eyes in disbelief. In his view, the vine was only an ordinary item. Even if he were to assimilate it, there would be nothing that would come out of it. However, when he fused it into his dantian, he realized that the vine actually harnessed countless folded spaces packed together! 

In fact, it could be said that the effect of the vine was nearly no different from assimilating the Dongxu Gourd itself! Seeing that Harshit finally understood, vipin casually said, “Alright, you can push for a breakthrough now.” It was only with the Eye of Insight that he could discern the power of Dimension Sundering that was harnessed within the vine. The others lacked the ability to do so, so naturally, they were not able to notice it. 

“Alright.” With his body back to its peak state and having assimilated the vine, Harshit knew that it was the ideal opportunity for him to achieve a breakthrough. Thus, he took a seat on the ground and began conditioning his breathing, preparing himself for a breakthrough. Some time later… With a resounding explosion, a powerful aura flowed forth from his body.

 His aura abruptly surged, and in just a few moments, he had already overcome his bottleneck. However, as he advanced into the Half-Dimension Sundering realm, his cultivation gradually came to a halt. Seeing as Harshit’s flow of energy gradually came to a halt, vipin asked doubtfully, “What’s wrong? Are you lacking the strength to push for a breakthrough straight to Saint 8-dan?” 

Under normal circumstances, considering that Harshit was in his peak state and that he had assimilated the vine, he should have been able to push for a breakthrough to Dimension Sundering realm with ease. Why did he stop at just Half-Dimension Sundering realm? “As long as I wish to do so, I can push for a breakthrough at any moment. However, at Saint 8-dan, one’s Dominion will become imbued with the power of Dimension Sundering, which is equivalent to wrestling power from the surrounding space.

 However, the space in this folded space is considerably weaker and less stable, so even if I do achieve a breakthrough here, the increase in my fighting prowess will not be as great,” Harshit explained. “I see.” vipin nodded in realization. Even though he had already comprehended the third dan of the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel, he still knew close to nothing about the Dimension Sundering realm. As such, he was unable to anticipate such a possible pitfall. 

At the Dimension Sundering realm, cultivators would seek to sunder the space from the world to strengthen themselves, and naturally, the space sundered from folded spaces would inevitably be weaker than those sundered straight from the natural world. The space of the natural world had come to achieve an exquisite balance over countless years of development, so achieving a breakthrough there would be much more beneficial to one in terms of increment in fighting prowess or future potential. 

“More importantly, when a cultivator achieves a breakthrough to Saint 8- dan, a lightning tribulation will be drawn in. If I challenge the trial back at the Sanctum of Sages, I’ll be less susceptible to the offense of inner demons, making it easier for me to succeed.” vipin nodded in agreement. The Sanctum of Sages carried the aura left behind by master shake and generations of master teachers, and due to the righteous air that lingered in the area, inner demons dared not wreak havoc when one was challenging a tribulation. 

As such, achieving a breakthrough in the Sanctum of Sages would be much easier than doing so outside. After all, not everyone was like him, capable of talking an inner demon into submission. “He really succeeded…” “How did he manage to do it?” Seeing how Harshit, who had difficulty even standing up not too long ago due to the side effects from activating his bloodline ability, successfully made a breakthrough to Half-Dimension Sundering realm, the faces of shakshi and the others flushed red in agitation. 

Even though they had not reached Phantasm Space realm pinnacle yet, as long as they were to cultivate hard, they should be able to reach it within a few years. If they could engage vipin’s help then and push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan Dimension Sundering realm, their clans would surely view them with far greater regard and grant them greater authority! “harshit, how much has your strength grown after achieving a breakthrough to the Half-Dimension Sundering realm?” 

faarish asked curiously. “How much has my strength grown?” Hearing that question, Harshit laughed heartily and grabbed the space in front of him. Kacha! He tore off a fragment of space, creating a rift ahead of him. Everyone widened their eyes in shock. Even though they were in a folded space and Harshit had always possessed exceptional control over space, this was still an astounding feat. 

Even Dimension Sundering realm intermediate stage experts would have incredible trouble achieving such a feat! “There’s no need to worry. There’s no problem in the breakthrough method that vipin has imparted to me. If I meet with that bastard husain again, I’ll be able to beat him up to the point where even his own father won’t be able to recognize him,” Harshit said in excitement. 

He had been competing with husain for many years, and each time he achieved a breakthrough, the latter would swiftly follow suit as well. Neither of them was able to shake the other off. 

It was for this reason that he was determined to find the Dongxu Gourd so as to surpass the latter once and for all. Who would have thought that, even though the Dongxu Gourd did not recognize him, he would still be able to successfully make a breakthrough? With his newfound strength, he would make sure to put that fellow through a round of suffering when he returned to the Sanctum of Sages!

 “That’s a relief…” Everyone first heaved a sigh of relief before they slowly directed heated gazes toward vipin. “Ah…” Facing everyone’s passionate gazes, vipin scratched his head in embarrassment and said, “Since we have resolved the matter concerning the Dongxu Gourd, shall we return to the Sanctum of Sages now?”

 “Wait a moment first,” Harshit said with a smile. “I don’t think that there’s only the Dongxu Gourd in this ancient domain. In fact, the reason I invited faarish over is to borrow his ability to scan the surroundings. Perhaps, we might be able to find much more valuable treasures in here!” 

------oOo------

 Chapter 1363: - Looped Space 

A spirit vein was torn out of the mountain valley and placed into this folded space in order to supply it with energy. Surely the person who had left behind this folded space would not have conducted this huge operation just to nourish a mere Dongxu Gourd, right? There had to be something more to it. At this moment, vipin also came to the same conclusion. He shot a glance at shakshi and the others and noticed the lack of surprise on their faces. 

From the look of it, it seemed like they had known this in advance as well, which was also the reason they were willing to lend their strength to help Harshit obtain the Dongxu Gourd despite the danger involved. “faarish, we’ll be counting on you!” Harshit said with a solemn nod. “Un. Leave it to me,” faarish replied. Without any hesitation, he executed his secret art once more, and a series of ripples diffused from his glabella into the surroundings. 

The folded space expanded far beyond the spatial seal where they had previously been. The ripples diffused for a very long time, to the point where faarish’s body was beginning to tremble, before they finally came to a halt. “How is it?” faarish had to gasp for air for quite a while before he managed to recover enough to reply. 

“I have sensed some ancient objects, but I’m not too sure if they are treasures.” “Lead the way!” Harshit said. As soon as the order was given, faarish began making his way forward. After a roughly ten minutes journey, the crowd suddenly came to a halt with perplexed frowns on their faces. “Judging from the river in the sky, it doesn’t seem like we are getting anywhere. Could we possibly be trapped within a Confinement Formation?” shakshi asked with a slightly perturbed voice. 

Throughout their journey, she could not help but realize that no matter where they traveled to, the river of spiritual energy still appeared to be at the exact same relative position to them in the sky. It was almost as if they had not advanced a single step forward! Facing such a situation, Harshit lowered his head and pondered for a moment before saying, “It isn’t a Confinement Formation but the effects of the distortion in space.” 

Achieving a breakthrough to Half-Dimension Sundering realm had granted him a deeper understanding of space, allowing him to swiftly notice what was amiss with the surroundings. “Distortion in space?” shakshi asked doubtfully. The scenery around them appeared to completely normal, devoid of the bizarre warps similar to the cone-shaped vortex they had seen prior to entering this folded space.

 As such, she could not help but harbor some doubts toward Harshit’s judgement. “The distortion in space here spans across the entire folded space, so it isn’t visible to the eye. The space that we commonly see is three-dimensional in nature, and it stretches endlessly into the surroundings. On the other hand, the space within this folded space seems to take the form of a ring. Traveling in a straight line will result in us walking in a loop, bringing us back to the point that we started from,” Harshit explained.

 “On top of that, a distortion in space will cause light to distort as well, and this creates the illusion that we are walking in a straight line even though we are effectively walking in circles! If we could jump out of this folded space and look at ourselves from above, we should see that our bodies are distorted instead of upright!” Hearing those words, vipin nodded in agreement. 

Distorted spaces were not apparent to those who were standing within them. In a sense, this was similar to how it was not apparent to an individual that the earth was round just by looking at their immediate surroundings. The situation they were currently facing was similar to two endpoints in space connecting with one another, forming a closed loop that resulted in them walking in endless circles. 

“If that’s the case… how do we leave this folded space?” akabar asked apprehensively. Harshit hesitated for a moment before replying, “Shatter the folded space!” Hearing that, shakshi shook her head and said, “Folded spaces aren’t stable. If anything goes wrong while shattering the folded space, there’s a good chance that we might be trapped here for life!” 

Folded spaces were not as stable as spaces in the natural world, and they were incapable of regenerating on their own. So, if someone exerted too much strength, it could result in its complete collapse, and all of them would be reduced to dust. It was also for this reason that it would be unsafe for them to bring the Saint 8-dan Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast in. “This…” Harshit frowned.

 He also understood this much, or else he would have made a move immediately instead of wasting his breath on words. vipin suddenly spoke up. “Actually, there’s no need to shatter this space.” “Oh?” The crowd quickly turned their sights over. “Look at the flow of the spiritual energy above us. No matter where we walk, it remains right above us. This only means that the space around the river is stable, or in other words, it isn’t within the folded space we are in!” vipin explained. 

Looks of realization dawned upon the crowd. Indeed, if the river was within the looped folded space as well, its relative position to them should change along with their movement. It did not make sense for it to remain fixed in position. “If we wish to escape from here, we just have to find a way to delve into the river and move against its current,” vipin said. “That’s right!” Harshit’s eyes lit up upon hearing those words, and he quickly nodded in agreement as well. 

“Since that’s the case, let’s make a move!” Without any hesitation, the crowd immediately flew toward the river. The river was actually a spirit vein. As soon as the crowd made their way into it, they felt overwhelming spiritual energy pouring toward them at an incredible speed, causing their breathing to hasten. Harshit waved his hand and formed a massive spatial bubble around the crowd, alleviating the pressure resulting from the strong currents in the river. 

With that, the discomfort was reduced significantly, and they began to make their way forward slowly. This spirit vein could have been passed off as pinnacle spirit stones, but it has expended itself too much in order to sustain this space. What a pity! vipin thought in lamentation. If this massive spirit vein had still been in the mountain valley, it surely would have developed into a spirit mine filled with plenty of pinnacle spirit stones. 

However, in order to allow the space to remain operating normally, the spiritual energy within it had been slowly depleting, to the point where even producing high-tier spirit stones was a problem for it now. But again, if this spirit vein had actually produced pinnacle spirit stones, it would have long been harvested by the other powers. There was no way they would have gotten a chance to obtain the Dongxu Gourd. Right!

 I should try and see if I can communicate with that fellow! Knowing that he would not be in any danger with Harshit around, vipin turned his consciousness into his body, toward his dantian. He swiftly saw the fellow who had willfully dived into his body lying leisurely on the ground, exuding vibes similar to a lazy Sunday morning. 

Seeing how the gourd was able to remain completely unfazed after all the trouble it had caused him, displeasure swiftly filled vipin’s mind. Since that fellow has absorbed my blood and acknowledged me, I should be considered as its master now! Thus, he began trying to establish control over the Dongxu Gourd. Tzzzzz! Under the drive of his power, the Dongxu Gourd began revolving in the air.

 The power of space contained within the Dongxu Gourd began flowing through his body. Huala! Wherever the power of space swept by, the Heaven’s Path zhenqi in the area of his dantian would suddenly collapse inward, as if it had fallen into a depression. What’s going on? vipin narrowed his eyes in alarm. He had spent a great deal of effort to recover his zhenqi, so how could the Dongxu Gourd make it disappear just by emanating a bit of power? No, that’s not it.

 It’s not that my zhenqi has disappeared—the space within my dantian has been changed. I can store much more zhenqi in here now… After a swift scan, vipin was stunned. It was not that his zhenqi had vanished into thin air; the surrounding space had been distorted, allowing him to store much more zhenqi had before. Wait a moment. A thought suddenly emerged in vipin’s mind. 

If I could set up a closed loop within my dantian as well and keep my zhenqi in perpetual revolution, not only will I be able to store more zhenqi, I’ll be able to draw it swifter than before as well, granting me more explosive power. As perplexing as the idea of a looped space might have sounded to one who was encountering it for the first time, it was actually a rather simple concept, and it was not too difficult for him to implement.

 If I could exert all of my zhenqi in an instant, I might just be able to execute the Ocean Cataclysm Sword… With that thought, vipin’s eyes lit up. Even though the Ocean Cataclysm Sword still had a few flaws here and there, the main reason he could not execute it yet was mainly due to his output of zhenqi being too low. No matter how huge a tank was, the amount of water it could pump out was still limited by the width of its pipes. 

The Ocean Cataclysm Sword required far greater outburst of zhenqi compared to the Sea Severing Sword, but if he could set up such a looped space within his dantian, he might just be able to draw forth sufficient zhenqi instantaneously to execute the technique. Let me give a try… Tzzzzzzz! Sensing his strength, the Dongxu Gourd began to revolve slowly, gradually releasing the power of space around vipin’s dantian. 

It was a little similar to a bee constructing its beehive. It seems like it’ll take a while before the construction is complete. Owing to the limitations in his cultivation, vipin knew that it would take him a lot of effort to construct a looped space within his dantian even with the help of the Dongxu Gourd. Nevertheless, it was a relief to see that he was able to drive the Dongxu Gourd without it resisting him. This meant that he had really managed to assimilate the latter. 

Watching the construction of the folded space in his dantian, vipin sighed helplessly. It’ll be fine as long as it doesn’t cause any trouble. Just that, I’ll need quite a bit of spiritual energy to complete the construction, so I need to start looking for spirit stones once more… Due to his cultivation of the Saint Ascension Decipher, his zhenqi capacity far exceeded that of an ordinary cultivator. 

However, with the setting up of a looped space, he would require a lot more zhenqi in order to fill it up. Making a rough calculation, he would require ten times as much as what he had at the moment! This meant that he would have to gather spirit stones, absorb the spiritual energy within them, convert that into zhenqi, and deposit it into his looped space. But given how poor he was at the moment, where was he supposed to look for more spirit stones?

 If it really comes down to it, perhaps I should get mohan to compile a list of cultivators who are on the verge of a breakthrough in the Sanctum of Sages and ‘share’ their lightning tribulation when it comes, vipin contemplated seriously. He had benefited greatly from absorbing energy from the lightning tribulation during his previous breakthrough to Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle.

 Since he was able to do that for his lightning tribulation, there should not be any reason he could not do the same for the other lightning tribulations. With that, he should be able to fill up his dantian easily without any trouble. I should have a discussion with harshit later on and request to observe his lightning tribulation. vipin nodded as he made up his mind on the matter. After the previous absorption, the energy harnessed within ordinary lightning tribulations would not have much use to him anymore. 

However, the lightning tribulation that Harshit would have to face when he pushed for a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm should be able to meet his standards. “Look, what’s that?” While vipin was deep in thought, a sudden exclamation from the group pulled him back to reality. Raising his head to take a look, he realized that they had already reached the end of the river flow.

 A mountain range filled with peaks that rose right above the clouds appeared before his eyes. However, on second look, he realized that the mountain was not real. It felt fleeting and beyond reach, a little like a painting someone had hung at the horizon of the world or perhaps just a mere mirage, a product of one’s imagination. “That’s the highest level of painting, World Composition!”

 Harshit remarked grimly. “World Composition?” “A painting at the level of World Composition far exceeds the realm Evocative Vividness, reaching a level where even humans can enter and live within the painting,” Harshit said. Hearing those words, vipin nodded. He took a closer look at the painting, and suddenly, a feeling of déjà vu came to him. 

He racked his brain in an attempt to capture the source of this feeling of familiarity when his eyes narrowed in astonishment. “This mountain range… Isn’t it the same as the one in the painting that the Qingtian Emperor made me decipher?”

 ------oOo------ 

Chapter 1364: - You Again! 

Back in the rosaat empire, the Qingtian Emperor visited the Painter Guild with a copper mask in hand, seeking help to remove the seal on a painting he had. In the end, vipin was the one who managed to remove the seal, and beneath it, he found an illusory image of master shake. And for him to see a higher level painting that depicted the identical mountain range to the one he had seen before... Could they be depicting the same location?

 master shake's image isn't on the painting though. Did the painter intentionally choose not to draw it, or did he not notice master shake's presence?vipin frowned. Flicking his wrist, vipin took out the painting he had acquired from the Qingtian Emperor and compared it to the mountain range on the ninth level painting before him. 

The features were completely identical to one another, well, with the exception of the lake of bathing ladies. "That's the [White Creek Mountain] of the Empire Alliance. It's located at a place very far away from the Sanctum of Sages, such that even a Saint 7- dan beast would require a flight of three months in order to reach there!" Taking a glance at the painting in vipin's hand, Harshit said. 

He was slightly surprised initially to see that vipin had a painting of the same scenery as the ninth level painting before them, but he didn't think too much into it. After all, due to the splendid scenery at the White Creek Mountain, there were quite a few paintings of it circulating out there in the world. "White Creek Mountain..." vipin muttered beneath his breath as he tightened his fists.

 "While the painting you have can't compete with the ninth level painting up there, it's still a commendable work of art. It has managed to bring out the splendor and beauty of the mountain range in full." Harshit complimented. This was a painting that could astound all painters in the rosaat empire, but to Harshit's eyes, it could only be considered to be 'commendable'. "Indeed…" vipin replied perfunctorily as he kept the painting back to his storage ring with his mind wandering somewhere else.

 Now that he knew that the mountain range depicted in the painting was the White Creek Mountain, he would have to make a trip over there to take a look. Since master shake's apparition was spotted there, there was a good chance that he might find master shake's ancient domain over there too. 

Hu! While the two of them were chatting, the spatial bubble rose up from the river and arrived before the massive ninth level painting. "Are we able to enter this painting too?" Looking at the lifelike painting before him, vipin asked in curiosity. There was bound to be a reason as to why the elder who had left the Dongxu Gourd here would leave a ninth level painting here as well. If they could enter the painting, they might just be able to unravel the secrets behind this folded space. "It should be possible…" Harshit pondered for a moment before nodding. 

"I'll head in to take a look then." vipin said with a smile before heading in. This painting was not drawn on a paper but on top of the folded space. It consisted of multiple layers stitched together by the fabric of space, so vipin had to fly for quite some time before he finally arrived before the massive mountain range. The sheer expanse the mountain range took granted it an imposing and grand aura. 

Flying upward, vipin soon arrived at where he had replaced master shake's image with the bathing ladies, and he swiftly scanned the area. A moment later, he shook his head in disappointment. There was nothing special to be seen here. There was no apparition of master shake or any hidden folded spaces and the such. Nevertheless, there should still be some reason why the elder chose to leave this ninth level painting in here…vipin mumbled contemplatively beneath his breath. 

If this ancient domain was really left behind by Ancient Sage faraj, everything would make perfect sense. He was master shake's servant, and the reason why he left behind this painting was likely to remind future generations that there was something lying in the White Creek Mountain! vipin continued scanning through the mountain range, but he was unable to find anything or note.

 Eventually, he could only return with empty hands. When he finally returned back to Harshit and the others' side, the mountain range suddenly shuddered slightly before dissipating silently. "This painting has been around for too long. It's likely that time had already left it tattered throughout, and the only reason why it's still able to maintain its original appearance is likely only because no one has touched it yet. 

Your act of entering the painting had placed too much stress on the painting, thus inevitably resulting in its dissipation." Harshit explained. The slightly stunned vipin nodded in realization. In a sense, this was similar to how even if old possessions were able to retain their beautiful outer appearances, their worn out within would only cause them to crumble to dust upon touch. vipin took one last glance at the dissipated painting before turning his gaze back forward. 

A rather wide passageway had appeared before them. Following behind Harshit and the others' footsteps, he landed on top of the passageway. After all of the spatial distortion he had been through, it felt reassuring to have his feet planted onto solid ground. "The artifact that I sensed is in there!" faarish said with eyes gleaming with excitement. As soon as he stepped onto the passageway, the fuzzy feeling he had received from the treasure before suddenly turned extremely distinct. 

As long as they were to walk down this path, they should be able to find quite a few good stuff. "Great!" Hearing that the treasure was located not too far away from them, the crowd immediately felt energized, and they began making their way forward. Before long, a palace unfolded before their eyes. While it was called a palace, it wasn't too big or extravagant. Instead, its ancient design seemed to be communicating the long history behind it. "It's likely that there might be danger in here.

 Let me head in to take a look first." Harshit said before taking the lead forward. The gates of the palace were carved from stone, and it was densely filled with inscriptions. "These are Spatial Inscriptions, unique characters which Ancient Sage faraj has created! Through studying these characters, one could comprehend the essence of space. Our clan has a detailed interpretation of these words."

 Harshit exclaimed in astonishment. "Spatial Inscriptions?" vipin looked at those characters contemplatively for a moment before nodding. He had seen those words at the faraj Palace as well. The Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm was written using these words. Back then, he had no idea what those words meant, but he still managed to learn the battle technique through emulating the form of those words. "If that's the case, does that mean that the ancient domain is really left behind by Ancient Sage faraj?" 

shakshi asked in agitation. Even though Ancient Sage faraj was master shake's servant, his true strength was no weaker than the founder of the Sanctum of Sages, Ancient Sage Bo Shang. More importantly, his comprehension of space had reached an extremely high level. If they could obtain his heritage, it would only be a matter of time before they achieved a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan or even Saint 9-dan. 

"That's most likely to be the case... But it's a little weird though. My clan has a huge collection of books detailing the life of Ancient Sage faraj, but we have never heard that he has left behind such an ancient domain before!" Harshit said with a bewildered frown. "As complicated as this ancient domain appears to be, to experts of the caliber of an Ancient Sage, it's something that they can create on a whim.

 I think it's likely that not even Ancient Sage faraj remembered about this ancient domain he had left behind…" faarish said. Coming from a clan of treasure hunters, he had come into contact with simply too many treasures in the world. There were many ancient domains which appeared to be mystifyingly profound to those of the later generations, and the treasures within them were incredibly valuable too. 

However, to those who had left them behind, those might not bear much significance at all. The difference in realms inevitably led to a huge difference in how they assessed the value of things. "That's true." vipin nodded in agreement. Take him for example, he wouldn't even blink an eye if someone were to throw a million high-tier spirit stones before him. However, in the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, just the possession of a single high-tier spirit stone could already be considered as great wealth. 

Similarly, while the Dongxu Gourd might seem to be incomparably valuable to them, it might just be something that an Ancient Sage would just toss away casually. "Harshit, since you recognize those characters, what is written on there?" faarish asked. "It's a message intended for the later generations who discover this ancient domain. The general meaning is that those who are able to come this far are bound to have a deep understanding of space and are qualified to obtain his heritage. 

Ah, the way to open the door is also detailed on it…" Harshit said as he examined the inscriptions on the wall closely. After many years of studying these Spatial Inscriptions, the sant kabila had already compiled a book that allowed others to interpret the meaning behind these characters. "Heritage? Does this meant to say that the heritage of Ancient Sage faraj lies in the palace?" 

"That seems so." Harshit nodded. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I'm going to open the door now, so be careful. It isn't easy for us to come to this point, so nothing must go wrong at this moment…" After saying those words, he took a step backward before he raised his hand and tapped his finger forward. A surge of zhenqi poured forth and struck the gates. 

He sent out a total of three such surges of zhenqi in a '品' formation, and energy began rippling across the surface of the gates. 'Jiyaya!', it began to slowly open. Harshit immediately drove his zhenqi to create a protective barrier around him in preparation for what would appear. Ancient Sage faraj was a respected and celebrated figure, but since he had left his heritage behind here, he must have set up all kinds of trials in order to assess the qualification of those who sought his heritage. 

It would be better for them to proceed carefully. Harshit stepped into the palace, and some time later, he waved his hand to beckon for the others and said, "There's no danger. Come in!" The crowd quickly swarmed in and found themselves standing within a hall. It was completely empty, except for a sculpture erected not too far away. "It's Ancient Sage faraj!" Upon seeing the face on the sculpture, vipin exclaimed. 

He had seen Ancient Sage faraj back in the faraj Palace, so naturally, he could recognize the sculpture here too. "This is Ancient Sage faraj?" Despite coming from illustrious backgrounds, this was the first time they were seeing Ancient Sage faraj's sculpture. "I have seen before Ancient Sage faraj's painting, that's indeed him." Harshit replied before directing a perplexed glance at vipin. "vipin, how did you know it's him?" 

Ancient Sage faraj had maintained a low profile in his lifetime, so there weren't too many records on him. The sant kabila was only able to recognize the other party through a painting they had in their possession, so how was the young man before him able to recognize it with a look? "You said earlier that those words were left behind by Ancient Sage faraj, so I thought that the sculpture must be him as well…" vipin replied sheepishly. 

The faraj Palace carried the secret of the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel, so it was best for him to avoid talking about it for the tie being. On the other hand, seeing that vipin was unwilling to speak about the matter, Harshit also didn't push him for a response either. Everyone had their own private encounters and secrets, and there was no purpose in insistently dredging them up. Instead, he walked over to the sculpture, kneeled onto the ground, and respectfully kowtowed a few times before standing up once more.

 "Our sant kabila's understanding of spatial laws originated from Ancient Sage faraj's heritage, so our ancestor has made a rule that if any member of the sant kabila were to encounter Ancient Sage faraj's sculpture or will, we must kowtow to him to honor him as our grandteacher!" Harshit explained. 

"The sant kabila's understanding of spatial laws originated from Ancient Sage faraj's heritage?" vipin was astonished. He turned to look at akabar and the others, but they seemed to already be aware of this matter. "Space is an intrinsic nature of the world, so unlike swordsmanship and the others, which can be developed into many different Quintessences, it has only one true path. As such, their heritages are more unified…" vipin came to a realization. 

He should have known this earlier. It was no wonder why the Annal of Bedstead Disquisition Sage Luo had left behind was able to perfect the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel. It turned out that the both of them had originated from the same source. "Junior Harshit plays respect to Ancient Sage faraj!" 

After saying those words, Harshit reached out his hand and placed it on the lower pedestal of the sculpture. Weng! A light buzz echoed in the air for a moment before brilliant light burst forth from the sculpture. The unmoving sculpture slowly opened its eyes. "The will of Ancient Sage faraj…" shakshi, akabar, and the others widened their eyes in shock, and without any hesitation, they kneeled to the ground. 

One must know that Ancient Sage faraj was an expert which was even older than the founder of their respective heritages, such that even those founders would have to kneel down and address him as 'senior'. "Back then, while I was passing by here, I happen to chance upon the seed of the Dongxu Gourd, so I decided to plant it, hoping that it would be of some help to the later generations. 

The fact that you are able to come this far shows that you have achieved a deep comprehension of space and is qualified to obtain my heritage…" the sculpture began speaking. "Thank you, Ancient Sage faraj…" Everyone felt agitated to receive Ancient Sage faraj's recognition. Harshit was just about to utter some words of gratitude when he suddenly realized that not too far away, vipin was still standing. 

A frown emerged on his forehead as he berated, "vipin, why are you not paying your respects to Ancient Sage faraj…" But barely after those words were spoken, Ancient Sage faraj's sculpture had also turned his head over, and a horrified look appeared on his face, "You again!" 

------oOo------ 

Chapter 1365: - Collapse of the Ancient Domain 

 “You recognize me?” vipin was taken aback. “You made me come to see the flaws in my cultivation, so you can be considered half a teacher to me. How could I not recognize you?” the sculpture replied. “Flaws in Ancient Sage faraj’s cultivation?” “Half a teacher?” “Does this mean that… vipin has actually offered pointers to Ancient Sage faraj?”

 The teeth of Harshit, shakshi, and the others clattered from shock upon hearing those words. The significance of this matter was truly big, to the point that knowing too much might even cost them their lives! “But… aren’t you a fragmented soul?” vipin asked in intrigue. Even though they had met once another in the faraj Palace, each fragmented soul should have been an independent existence. 

Normally, it should have been impossible for any of Ancient Sage faraj’s fragmented souls outside of the faraj Palace to share memories with those within, so how did the one before him recognize him? “Each fragmented soul is an independent existence, but the order in which they are created is significant, too.

 It’ll be nigh impossible for fragmented souls that are created earlier to read into the memories of those who are created later, but as for fragmented souls that are created later, through some special means, it isn’t too difficult for them to share the memories of those that were created earlier. Not to mention, you are even carrying my heritage along with you, so it’s even easier for me to do so,” the sculpture explained. vipin nodded in realization. 

He had been carrying the faraj Palace with him wherever he went, and while it was currently stored in his storage ring, considering Ancient Sage faraj’s unfathomable mastery over space, it was not too difficult for him to figure out what had happened within. “It’s no wonder you tamed the Dongxu Gourd and got here so quickly. Your presence here explains everything. Ahem, I still have some things to attend to, so… Goodbye!” With a sudden ‘kacha!’, a crack ran through the sculpture. 

Following which, the imposing aura that was compelling subservience in the crowd receded like an ebbing tide. Boom! Following which, the sculpture abruptly exploded into countless fragments amid a cloud of dust, and it took a long while before everything settled on the ground. 

“This…” “Ancient Sage faraj’s will… has dissipated? But he hasn’t told us what the heritage is yet!” With twitching eyebrows, Harshit and the others clawed at their hair, unable to believe the situation unfolding right before them. They had traveled far to get there, and after a great deal of hard work, they had finally been just a step away from obtaining the heritage when the sculpture abruptly exploded before their eyes, and the will harnessed within it dissipated. What the heck was this? 

They slowly turned toward vipin and said, “vipin…” Facing the glares of the crowd, vipin was completely dumbfounded as well. Was that Ancient Sage faraj not a little too unreliable? He had also dissipated the previous time before saying what the heritage was! In fact, this time around, he had barely said anything at all.

 He had seen so many wills… but in terms of speed, that fellow was surely the first! It was no wonder he could come up with battle techniques such as the Unbounded Voyager. It turned out to be completely aligned with his innate nature! But thinking of it again, master shake was rather fast as well. They had met two times so far, but each time, he did not manage to get the solution for the Innate Fetal Poison out of him. 

This master and servant pair… No wonder the two of them managed to click with one another! Under the murderous glares that were intensifying by the moment, vipin replied with twitching lips, “Ahem, maybe this is a test posed to us by Ancient Sage faraj? He might have hidden the heritage somewhere in this folded space and want us to find it ourselves?” That had been the case in the faraj Palace too.

 After Ancient Sage faraj’s will dissipated, he had managed to find the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel through studying the three words ‘faraj Palace’ at the entrance. Considering that it was the same Ancient Sage faraj they were talking about, he was likely to go by the same pattern. Hearing those words, the crowd traded doubtful gazes, seemingly trying to ascertain the likelihood of vipin’s words being true. 

Harshit pondered for a moment before saying, “Back then, before our old ancestor obtained Ancient Sage faraj’s heritage and comprehended the spatial laws, he also seemed to have gone through a similar experience. “vipin is right. A person like Ancient Sage faraj would only pass down his heritage to those who have undergone his careful selection. It wouldn’t make sense for him to give his all to someone he has only met once! 

“Let’s comb through the area. We might just be able to find something.” Seeing that Harshit had covered up for him, vipin heaved a sigh of relief. shakshi and the others nodded before getting to their feet to search the area. The walls of the palace were also made of some kind of mysterious stone, and just like the gates, there were characters inscribed on them as well. shakshi and the others could not interpret those characters, so they could only turn to Harshit for help. 

“These characters aren’t a cultivation technique but just inscriptions to fortify the defenses of the palace. Even though this is a folded space—thus, there are no storms to weather—this fortification played a crucial role in allowing the palace to remain standing even after the passing of many millenniums,” Harshit explained. Regardless of weather conditions, all structures would still eventually wear down with time. 

Without the fortification inscriptions, the palace would have long collapsed from the accrued damage. Seeing that these characters meant nothing at all, the crowd was a little disappointed. At this point, shakshi suddenly thought of something and turned to faarish. “The heritage should also be considered a treasure, too. faarish, do you sense anything in the area?” Since faarish had been able to lead them there, there was a chance he would be able to lead them to the heritage left behind by Ancient Sage faraj as well. 

“I’ll give it a try.” faarish nodded before activating his unique ability. This ability of his could only be considered to be tapping into his bloodline rather than activating it, so while it would cause some damage to him, it was not to the point where he would be incapacitated for an entire month. Opening the third eye in between his eyebrows, he swept the area swiftly before suddenly coming to a halt. 

“I sense something weird in that direction…” He pointed in a direction as he said those words. The crowd quickly turned their gazes over. It was directed toward the area just beneath the sculpture. Rummaging through the shattered stone fragments, they soon found traces of a folded space. “Wonderful!” The eyes of the crowd lit up, and Harshit raised his finger and tapped on the folded space.

 Weng! With a brilliant burst of light, a line of words surged out of the folded space and appeared before the crowd. “Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist!” vipin read out. He had thought that Ancient Sage faraj had just said those words on a whim, but who would have thought that he had really left his heritage behind? “Legend has it that Ancient Sage faraj’s strongest battle techniques involve his finger, sword, fist, and palm, and they carry the prefix ‘Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow’.

 The palm art is at Saint intermediate-tier, the fist art is at Saint high-tier, and the sword art is at Saint pinnacle… Even the old ancestor of my sant kabila was unable to find those battle techniques, but to think that we would actually stumble on one of them here…” Harshit was so agitated that his eyes were glowing. “Finger, sword, fist, and palm?” vipin was taken aback. He had learned the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm before, and it was indeed a Saint intermediate-tier battle technique. 

He had thought that it was just an independent battle technique, but to think that it would actually be part of an entire series! He quickly looked at the words in the sky and commanded in his mind, Flaws! Huala! A book materialized in the Library of Heaven’s Path. Placing his finger on it, a constipated look swiftly appeared on vipin’s face. There are even more flaws with it, vipin thought with a shake of his head. 

Just the 27 flaws in the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm had left him feeling deeply uncomfortable within, but this one actually had 31 flaws. To be fair, it was a decent battle technique with formidable strength, but… how could he bring himself to cultivate such a flawed technique? Ever since he started cultivating the Heaven’s Path Divine Art, he had already grown accustomed to practicing skills that were devoid of flaws. 

Like a germaphobe, even the slightest hint of a fault would leave him feeling deeply uncomfortable, as if bugs were crawling over his skin… and there were actually 31 of them in this manual! vipin swiftly gathered all of the fist art manuals that he had practiced so far and compiled them together with it. 

Compile! There are still 28 flaws. Even though vipin had seen quite a number of fist art manuals in the past, their tier was simply too low. They were still sorely lacking to complement the faults found in a Saint high-tier fist art. Several hundred thousand books, but they only managed to remove three flaws in total. vipin shook his head and consoled himself. Forget it, I’ll just have to find more fist art manuals when I return to the Sanctum of Sages to perfect the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist. 

In any case, there were plenty of secret manuals in the Sanctum of Sages. As long as he could clear the examination for them, he should be able to gather quite a number of fist art manuals. With time, he would surely be able to perfect it! At this moment, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began trembling, and the space around them began distorting. “Crap, this is bad. 

The dissipation of Ancient Sage faraj’s will and the taking away of the Dongxu Gourd have led to instability within the space. At this rate, it’ll soon collapse,” Harshit exclaimed in shock. Similar to the Mountain Gate of the Sanctum of Sages, the structure of this folded space was simply too complicated. Without someone to sustain its operations, it would swiftly collapse at the slightest hint of impact. And clearly, this was what was happening at the moment. “Collapse?”

 Everyone’s face paled. As powerful as they were, they were still limited by the space they were in. If the folded space were to collapse, there was a good chance that they would be crushed between dimension rifts and die… unless they could achieve a level that surpassed this folded space! But that would require them to be at Saint 9-dan at the very minimum! “We need to leave right now, or else we might just die in here!” Harshit exclaimed anxiously. 

“But… I have only remembered two lines of the entire fist art!” shakshi exclaimed with a reddened face. “I have also only managed to remember two lines,” akabar said. There were countless cultivators who dream of obtaining Ancient Sage faraj’s battle technique, and it was a stroke of luck that they had managed to find it. Yet, to have to leave without memorizing its entirety… they just could not get over the indignation in their hearts. “Your lives are more important. 

No matter how powerful the battle technique is, it’ll be futile if you don’t have the life to practice it. I have also only managed to memorize four lines myself. Hurry up, let’s go!” Harshit urged with a wave of his hand. This battle technique had been created by Ancient Sage faraj, and it harnessed the essence of his wisdom. All in all, it contained more than several hundred lines, and despite their superior memory as cultivators, it would still take them at least an hour to memorize everything. 

Barely a minute had passed so far, and it was already a formidable feat for them to have been able to memorize two to four lines. But again, between a battle technique and their lives, it was clear which was more important! “Alright!” Seeing that the surrounding space was shaking more and more intensely, such that dimension rift cracks had started appearing around the area, shakshi and the others realized that they could not afford to waste any more time. 

They quickly followed behind Harshit to dash out of the folded space. Naturally, vipin followed suit. They had proceeded slowly to carefully scan the area so as to ensure that they did not miss anything important when they were walking through the passageway toward the palace earlier, but with danger right behind them, they could not afford to do that. They flitted forward desperately as if their lives were on the line, and it took merely two breaths before they returned to the top of the river flow. 

Harshit swiftly summoned a spatial bubble once more and wrapped it around the entire group before driving it forward with all his might. Ten breaths later, they returned to the bottom of the river, where they had first encountered the Dongxu Gourd. Kacha! Kacha! Barely after they returned there, they saw a huge dimension rift swiftly devouring the palace and the river behind them. 

“That was a close shave…” Cold sweat trickled down the crowd’s backs. It was fortunate that they did not hesitate for too long there, or else they might have died. “Let’s quickly get out of here,” Harshit said as he used a secret art of the sant kabila to forcefully tear open an exit in the folded space. 

Everyone quickly leaped up and headed out. Huuu huuuu! A deafening gale whistled by their ears, and intense vertigo swallowed them, leaving them in a deeply disoriented state. Fortunately, this only lasted for a moment. When they opened their eyes once more, they were already back at the cavern.

 Po! Barely after they managed to find their footing once more, the sesame-sized spatial distortion suddenly emanated a blinding burst of light before vanishing from view. The ancient domain had really fully collapsed! 

------oOo------ 

Chapter 1366: - Let Me Teach You! 

“The Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist…” The disappearance of the folded space meant that the ancient domain had become nothing more than a part of history. Even though they were relieved that they had managed to survive the collapse, they still could not help but feel dismay regarding the loss of Ancient Sage faraj’s heritage. An unparalleled battle technique was right before them… and they missed it just like that. 

“Even though I only managed to memorize a few lines, it’s still a battle technique left behind by Ancient Sage faraj. If I can internalize it well, I should be able to raise my fighting prowess significantly,” akabar said. “Why don’t we do this? Let’s regurgitate the content that we memorized, put it all together, and analyze it. This way, we can at least make the best out of what we know of the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist?”

“I guess that’s all we can do now!” shakshi and the others quickly nodded in agreement. A battle technique of the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist’s tier was extremely difficult to comprehend. Every single line carried a deep conception and great significance. Even though they had only managed to memorize a couple of lines, if they could just study it thoroughly, they should still be able to benefit greatly from it. “Harshit, you have the best memory of us all. Why don’t you go first?”

 “Un.” Harshit nodded. “The four lines that I have memorized are…” As one of the top geniuses of the sant kabila, he possessed superb memory. In just a short one to two minutes, he actually managed to memorize more than a hundred words. Hearing that what they had memorized was the exact same as what Harshit had said, akabar and the others heaved a sigh of relief. Just as they were about to start analyzing what those four lines meant, faarish suddenly spoke up. 

“I think I got the fifth line…” Everyone quickly turned their gazes over with their bodies trembling in agitation. “You memorized the fifth line?” “I think so.” faarish nodded as he quickly regurgitated the fifth line. As a treasure hunter, possessing a good memory was of vital importance in order to be able to put clues together. As good as Harshit’s memory was, it was still slightly lacking compared to faarish’s. 

“Amazing. Even though it’s only five lines, it seems to have already opened up a new world to me,” Harshit remarked in awe as he ruminated over the words for a moment. At this point, a thought suddenly flashed across his mind, and he turned to the silent vipin. “vipin, what about you? How many lines have you remembered?” “Me?” vipin had been too preoccupied lamenting over the destruction of the folded space that he had not really heard what the others were saying. 

He felt that if he could have gotten the Myriad Anthive Queen to swallow the space, he would have been able to increase the space in the Myriad Anthive nest significantly. He was slightly startled by the abrupt question before responding, “Oh, I managed to memorize everything.” “You m-memorized… everything?” Flabbergasted. They were all Saint 7-dan and Half Saint 8-dan experts, possessing superior analytical abilities, but even so, they only managed to memorize five lines in total. 

But he actually memorized everything? “Indeed.” vipin nodded. “Then… can you recite the content for us?” Harshit asked in agitation. “Sure. Actually, why don’t I just write it down for you? This way, you can refer to it whenever you want to…” With a tap of his finger, a surge of zhenqi shot forth from vipin’s fingers before abruptly bursting apart in the sky, forming a massive screen of light. 

Slowly, words began surfacing on the light screen. It was the cultivation method for the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist! He just had to use the Library of Heaven’s Path to collect the entire manual, so it did not even take him half a breath to memorize everything. All he had to do now was bring it out word for word, so it was no trouble at all. “This…” Looking at the screen filled with words before them, everyone gulped as they shot glances of disbelief at vipin.

 To memorize so many words within just a minute or two… Just how in the world did he manage to do it? At this moment, faarish suddenly exclaimed, “Wait a moment, vipin. There are a few words in your manual that are different from what I memorized.” Everyone turned their gazes over and saw faarish pointing toward the third line. Indeed, there were three words in the third line that were different from what they had discussed and agreed on earlier. 

Even though it was only a difference of three words, this alteration gave a completely different direction and conception to the battle technique. Could it be that… even though that fellow did manage to memorize the entire manual, his memory on certain portions was flawed? If that was the case, they should not practice this version of the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist even if it formed a complete manual.

 It was still fine if one failed to memorize a cultivation technique or battle technique—what was truly dangerous was if one had remembered it incorrectly. Even the slightest mistake in cultivation could possibly lead to one treading down the wrong path, possibly resulting in one’s cultivation going berserk. “Oh. After I was done memorizing the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist, I had some time to examine it closely.

 I realized that the cultivation technique had quite a few problems, so I made some alterations to it. However, due to the limitations of my knowledge, I was only able to correct a couple of the flaws.” vipin sighed, and his head reddened in embarrassment. If he had more Saint high-tier fist art manuals to refer to, he would have been able to correct more of the flaws. So far, of the 31 flaws, he had only managed to correct three of them, which was not even a tenth of the total. 

This was truly a huge failure on his part. “A-alterations?” The crowd nearly spurted a mouthful of blood. While we were struggling to memorize two to five lines of the manual, you managed to memorize everything and even alter it. Their faces flushed red, and they felt as if they were about to explode from the sheer frustration bubbling within them. Quick at setting up formations? Fine, we’ll tolerate that! Quick at deciphering poison? Alright, we’ll accept that too! 

Quick at helping others achieving a breakthrough? Fine, we’ll take that grudgingly as well… But to be able to memorize a manual that quickly and even have time to alter it… Don’t you think that you are showing off a bit too much? “Why don’t you just give me a while first? If I can refer to the fist art manuals back at the Sanctum of Sages, I should be able to perfect it further, thus bringing its might up to a new height,” vipin said. 

It would not be nice for him to pass down such a disgustingly flawed battle technique to others. It would be best if he could perfect it before imparting it to them. akabar pondered for a moment before replying. “It’s fine. I’ll just memorize the original version…” “I think I’ll go with the original version. vipin, may I trouble you to pen down the battle technique prior to your alterations?” 

shakshi asked as well. Even their old ancestors would dare not alter a battle technique from an expert of that caliber easily. Despite the extraordinary feats that vipin had achieved so far, they were hesitant to put themselves on the line to cultivate a battle technique that he had altered. “Alright then.” Knowing what the crowd was worried about, vipin did not insist on the matter. With a wave of his hand, he reverted the portions that he had altered to their original version.

 Seeing that the content had been changed to its original state, the crowd hurriedly took out some paper and brushes to copy the content down. It would be disastrous if they memorized the content incorrectly, so it would be much safer for them to copy everything down instead. An hour later, they were finally done copying the manual. “vipin… earlier, Ancient Sage faraj said that he knows you. Have the both of you met one another before?” Harshit asked curiously. 

“I happened to stumble into one of his ancient domain once, and after clearing his tests, I obtained his Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm,” vipin said without going into detail or revealing the existence of the faraj Palace. “I see!” The crowd nodded in realization. “Then… what about when Ancient Sage faraj talked about you seeing through the flaws in his cultivation?” akabar asked. 

“How could that possibly be true? The truth is that I happened to chance upon a book that detailed the flaws in the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm, so I spoke about it casually before Ancient Sage faraj’s will. Who would have thought that he would think so highly of me after the matter?” vipin said. Offering pointers to an Ancient Sage was simply too shocking a matter. 

Having something like that pinned to his reputation was not necessarily something good, especially considering how well-respected Ancient Sage faraj was. In any case, he was determined to deny this matter to the end. As for whether the others would believe him or not, that was not his problem anymore. “This…” Harshit and the others felt that vipin was not being completely honest to them, but his explanation was something that they could accept, so they decided to probe no further. 

“Let’s return!” Even though Harshit had failed to obtain the Dongxu Gourd this time around, he did manage to achieve a breakthrough in his cultivation. As for the others, they also managed to obtain the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist, so it was not a wasted trip for them either. Shortly after walking out of the cavern, they were met with the Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast. From it, they learned that husain and the others had already regained consciousness two hours ago and left the area immediately. 

Toward this matter, Harshit could not help but feel a tinge of disappointment. He had been hoping to try my newfound strength on that fellow so as to vent his many years of frustration, but who knew that the fellow would actually flee? The Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast was not an aerial saint beast. While it was capable of moving at an incredible speed due to its superior cultivation, in terms of endurance, it still came nowhere near the Seven-colored Divine Crane. 

So, vipin moved the Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast into the Myriad Anthive Nest before leaving the valley with the others on the back of the Seven-colored Divine Crane. “Here are your formation flags!” vipin walked up to shakshi and passed a huge stack of flags over. He had borrowed them from the other party for the mission, and since the mission had come to an end, it was only right for him to return them. Otherwise, how would he be any different from bandits?

 “My understanding of formations is still deeply lacking, so you can keep the flags. I think you will be able to do much more with them,” shakshi said with a wave of her hand. In the view of others, she was not just a talented demonic tunist—she was also a proficient formation master, a true genius. However, after meeting the young man standing before her, she realized that her skills were still sorely lacking. After witnessing what the young man was capable of, she was embarrassed to even tell others that she was a formation master. “This won’t do. 

How can I simply take your stuff like that?” vipin quickly shook his hands. Those were grade-8 formation flags, capable of setting up even grade-8 pinnacle formations. Even a single one of those was worth a huge fortune, let alone an entire bunch of them. He did not want to owe a debt to others over material possessions. 

Not to mention that the other party was a lady, and they were currently before his future brother-in-law. He had to make sure to conduct himself well! “If you think it’s too much as a gift, it’ll do as long as you offer me some pointers when I’m ready to push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan. 

That way, I will be the one who has gotten a good deal instead,” shakshi said. Of course, it was not because she was too rich that she gave so many valuable formation flags away for free. She was intending to make use of this opportunity to win vipin’s goodwill so that she would be able to engage his help in the future, especially when she needed to push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan. 

“This…” vipin frowned. He did not think that he would have much trouble helping shakshi achieve a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan, but the main problem was that how long would she take. Beyond the third month of the next year, he probably would not have time to attend to such miscellaneous matters anymore. With this thought in mind, he turned to shakshi and asked, “How long will you need before you are ready to push for a breakthrough to Saint 8- dan?” “How long?”

 A confident smile emerged on shakshi’s lips as she replied, “I’m currently at Saint 7-dan advanced stage, ready to achieve a breakthrough soon. As long as I cultivate diligently, I should be able to successfully make a breakthrough within three years. After reaching Saint 7-dan pinnacle, I will have to slowly reinforce my cultivation in order to build up a strong foundation for Saint 8-dan. 

I will require ten to twenty years for that.” “Three years and ten years? That is to say that you will need at least thirteen years before you can push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan?” vipin asked. “That’s right.” shakshi nodded. “My rate of cultivation can already be considered to be faster compared to the others in the Sanctum of Sages.

 You might not feel it that much at the moment, but every step forward beyond the Leaving Aperture realm gets increasingly arduous, and the time and effort one has to put in increases exponentially.” vipin nodded in response to those words. He could relate to that. Ever since he reached the Leaving Aperture realm, he could sense that the quantity of spiritual energy he needed to push for a breakthrough was much greater than before, and the time he took to achieve a breakthrough had increased from two hours to four hours. 

Really, the difficulty was so great that it left a numbing sensation on his scalp. If not for that, he would not have been so troubled by the matter. Seeing the awful complexion on the young man’s face, shakshi asked, “vipin, is my rate of cultivation too fast or too slow?” “This…” vipin hesitated for a moment before replying. “Thirteen years is a little too long for me. 

I don’t think I can wait till then… Why don’t we do this instead? You should try to achieve a breakthrough to Saint 7-dan pinnacle on the spot and reinforce your cultivation, and when we finally reach the Sanctum of Sages, I’ll help you push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan straight!” 

“Achieve a breakthrough on the spot?” shakshi’s face twitched upon hearing those words. “vipin, you must be messing with me. If I really could really achieve a breakthrough as and when I like, I would have already done so.”

 “I’m not messing with you.” vipin chuckled. “It’s just a breakthrough to Saint 7-dan pinnacle, no problem at all. “Here, I’ll impart a method to you. Twenty minutes, no, that’s too long… Five minutes! I’ll have you achieve a breakthrough within five minutes!”

 ------oOo------ 

 “No, it’s not poison. Harshit’s complexion is improving!” Before vipin could explain himself, shakshi had spoken up. Her meticulous nature allowed her to immediately notice the slight changes within Harshit. Even though Harshit still looked as weak as before, unable to draw forth the slightest strength in his body, redness had started returning to his previously ghastly pale face. 

Seeing that he had misunderstood vipin, akabar hurriedly reined in his aura and scratched his head in embarrassment. He had seen how the young man had poisoned the Crimsontail Wasp King to death and declared that he would poison husain to death, so as soon as Harshit said that there was something wrong with the wine, the first thing that came to his mind was that the wine was poisoned. Gudong! 

Gudong! It did not take long for Harshit to down the entire vat of fine wine. Without his zhenqi protecting his body, he swiftly became intoxicated by the high concentration of alcohol in the wine.

 Nevertheless, his complexion and body seemed to have recovered significantly from before. If he had appeared to be a terminally-ill patient who seemed like he was standing at the gates to hell a moment ago, right now, he seemed more like a young man who had just been afflicted with a slight fever or something. Harshit looked at vipin with glazed eyes and asked, “Is there still any more wine?” 

“Here you go!” vipin took out another vat and passed it over. “Thank you…” Taking the vat, Harshit began gulping it down in huge mouthfuls. It was an established fact that after the activation of one’s bloodline ability, one would be unable to exert any might for an entire month. Yet, just by drinking a vat of wine, he felt the frailty that seemed to plague him right from the depths of his body starting to vanish! 

This was something that was unbelievable to him! One must know that the frailty after activating one’s bloodline ability was a problem that had plagued Sage Clans for countless years. Much research had been done to alleviate the problem, but there was still no feasible and affordable solution to resolve it. But as he gulped down more and more wine, he could feel his vitality swiftly coming back to him, returning to his peak state. 

By the time he was done with the second vat of wine, all frailty he felt had already vanished without a trace! “vipin…” The astounded Harshit turned to look at vipin, wanting to know how he managed to do it. “Close your eyes and don’t resist me…” vipin interrupted Harshit’s words with wave of his hand. Then, he flicked his finger, and countless needles flew over. Tzzzzzzz! As soon as the silver needles pierced into his body, Harshit immediately felt a unique energy coursing through his body.

 The meridians that had ended up getting blocked as a result of him activating his bloodline ability slowly opened up once more. To make an analogy, activating one’s bloodline ability was like causing a machine to go on overdrive. Once it cooled down, the energy that had gotten into narrow meridians would slowly agglutinate, causing blockages in the area, making it difficult for one to drive one’s zhenqi through them.

 In other words, what was blocking the meridians was not impurities but one’s own zhenqi! However, the energy that flowed through the silver needle melted the agglutinated zhenqi as if ice in the face of boiling water, clearing those meridians swiftly. In just moments, Harshit felt refreshed and energized, and strength swiftly returned to his body, surging through his entirety.

 “This…” akabar and the others glanced at one another, flabbergasted. Recovering one’s vitality through drinking wine could still be rationalized by the wine being concocted using potent recovery medicinal herbs… but to replenish one’s zhenqi just by sticking a few silver needles in, that was a little too exaggerated! Having recovered his zhenqi, Harshit no longer felt as withered before. 

He flicked his wrist, took out a pill, and threw it into his mouth. Geji! Geji! As he absorbed the energy harnessed within the pill, the energy in his body grew stronger and stronger. In less than an hour, he had already returned to his peak state. “You are really able to resolve the side effects from activating one’s bloodline ability…” Getting to his feet and feeling the strength coursing through his body, Harshit stared at the young man before him with a look of disbelief. 

Ever since he was young, his clan elders had always warned him against activating his bloodline ability easily, or else he would have to undergo a long period of recuperation. Who knew that the formation master he had coincidentally met would actually be able to resolve his problems so easily? “This is a secret art of mine, and it depletes my energy greatly as well, so I earnestly request for you all not to let this matter out,” vipin said with a pale face as he clasped his fist. Harshit’s cultivation was simply too much higher than his. 

He had needed to expend nearly all of his zhenqi before he was able to heal the other party. It would be best for him to avoid doing this in the future, or else he would probably die of overexertion after treating a couple of people. “Un.” It was apparent that vipin had also pushed himself a little too much in the recovery process, and the others also understood the significance of this matter.

 Thus, they swiftly nodded in agreement. After a short moment of rest, vipin said, “Since harshit has already recovered fully, let’s push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan right now then!” “Alright.” Harshit nodded. Then, with a slightly lost look on his face, he asked, “What should I do now?” Even though he had managed to recover to his full strength, he was still some way off from pushing for a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm. Otherwise, he would not have gone through the trouble of looking for the Dongxu Gourd either. 

“You should assimilate this item first.” vipin flicked his wrist and passed a vine over. Although the power of Dimension Sundering within the vine was slightly inferior to that of the Dongxu Gourd, it was apparent that assimilating it would do one much good in pushing for a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm. It was due this vine that he dared promise Harshit that he would help him achieve a breakthrough. 

“Alright.” Nodding, Harshit began pumping his zhenqi into the vine, attempting to assimilate it for his own. This was only a small segment of the entire vine, so it was not too difficult to assimilate it. It took him less than six hours to succeed. Within the period of time Harshit spent assimilating the vine, vipin had managed to recover fully as well. “Alright, store it in your dantian!” 

vipin instructed. Seeing how slow Harshit’s movement was, he tapped his finger forward. Tz la! The vine immediately dived right into Harshit’s dantian. “This…” Harshit widened his eyes in disbelief. In his view, the vine was only an ordinary item. Even if he were to assimilate it, there would be nothing that would come out of it. However, when he fused it into his dantian, he realized that the vine actually harnessed countless folded spaces packed together! 

In fact, it could be said that the effect of the vine was nearly no different from assimilating the Dongxu Gourd itself! Seeing that Harshit finally understood, vipin casually said, “Alright, you can push for a breakthrough now.” It was only with the Eye of Insight that he could discern the power of Dimension Sundering that was harnessed within the vine. The others lacked the ability to do so, so naturally, they were not able to notice it. 

“Alright.” With his body back to its peak state and having assimilated the vine, Harshit knew that it was the ideal opportunity for him to achieve a breakthrough. Thus, he took a seat on the ground and began conditioning his breathing, preparing himself for a breakthrough. Some time later… With a resounding explosion, a powerful aura flowed forth from his body.

 His aura abruptly surged, and in just a few moments, he had already overcome his bottleneck. However, as he advanced into the Half-Dimension Sundering realm, his cultivation gradually came to a halt. Seeing as Harshit’s flow of energy gradually came to a halt, vipin asked doubtfully, “What’s wrong? Are you lacking the strength to push for a breakthrough straight to Saint 8-dan?” 

Under normal circumstances, considering that Harshit was in his peak state and that he had assimilated the vine, he should have been able to push for a breakthrough to Dimension Sundering realm with ease. Why did he stop at just Half-Dimension Sundering realm? “As long as I wish to do so, I can push for a breakthrough at any moment. However, at Saint 8-dan, one’s Dominion will become imbued with the power of Dimension Sundering, which is equivalent to wrestling power from the surrounding space.

 However, the space in this folded space is considerably weaker and less stable, so even if I do achieve a breakthrough here, the increase in my fighting prowess will not be as great,” Harshit explained. “I see.” vipin nodded in realization. Even though he had already comprehended the third dan of the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel, he still knew close to nothing about the Dimension Sundering realm. As such, he was unable to anticipate such a possible pitfall. 

At the Dimension Sundering realm, cultivators would seek to sunder the space from the world to strengthen themselves, and naturally, the space sundered from folded spaces would inevitably be weaker than those sundered straight from the natural world. The space of the natural world had come to achieve an exquisite balance over countless years of development, so achieving a breakthrough there would be much more beneficial to one in terms of increment in fighting prowess or future potential. 

“More importantly, when a cultivator achieves a breakthrough to Saint 8- dan, a lightning tribulation will be drawn in. If I challenge the trial back at the Sanctum of Sages, I’ll be less susceptible to the offense of inner demons, making it easier for me to succeed.” vipin nodded in agreement. The Sanctum of Sages carried the aura left behind by master shake and generations of master teachers, and due to the righteous air that lingered in the area, inner demons dared not wreak havoc when one was challenging a tribulation. 

As such, achieving a breakthrough in the Sanctum of Sages would be much easier than doing so outside. After all, not everyone was like him, capable of talking an inner demon into submission. “He really succeeded…” “How did he manage to do it?” Seeing how Harshit, who had difficulty even standing up not too long ago due to the side effects from activating his bloodline ability, successfully made a breakthrough to Half-Dimension Sundering realm, the faces of shakshi and the others flushed red in agitation. 

Even though they had not reached Phantasm Space realm pinnacle yet, as long as they were to cultivate hard, they should be able to reach it within a few years. If they could engage vipin’s help then and push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan Dimension Sundering realm, their clans would surely view them with far greater regard and grant them greater authority! “harshit, how much has your strength grown after achieving a breakthrough to the Half-Dimension Sundering realm?” 

faarish asked curiously. “How much has my strength grown?” Hearing that question, Harshit laughed heartily and grabbed the space in front of him. Kacha! He tore off a fragment of space, creating a rift ahead of him. Everyone widened their eyes in shock. Even though they were in a folded space and Harshit had always possessed exceptional control over space, this was still an astounding feat. 

Even Dimension Sundering realm intermediate stage experts would have incredible trouble achieving such a feat! “There’s no need to worry. There’s no problem in the breakthrough method that vipin has imparted to me. If I meet with that bastard husain again, I’ll be able to beat him up to the point where even his own father won’t be able to recognize him,” Harshit said in excitement. 

He had been competing with husain for many years, and each time he achieved a breakthrough, the latter would swiftly follow suit as well. Neither of them was able to shake the other off. 

It was for this reason that he was determined to find the Dongxu Gourd so as to surpass the latter once and for all. Who would have thought that, even though the Dongxu Gourd did not recognize him, he would still be able to successfully make a breakthrough? With his newfound strength, he would make sure to put that fellow through a round of suffering when he returned to the Sanctum of Sages!

 “That’s a relief…” Everyone first heaved a sigh of relief before they slowly directed heated gazes toward vipin. “Ah…” Facing everyone’s passionate gazes, vipin scratched his head in embarrassment and said, “Since we have resolved the matter concerning the Dongxu Gourd, shall we return to the Sanctum of Sages now?”

 “Wait a moment first,” Harshit said with a smile. “I don’t think that there’s only the Dongxu Gourd in this ancient domain. In fact, the reason I invited faarish over is to borrow his ability to scan the surroundings. Perhaps, we might be able to find much more valuable treasures in here!” 

------oOo------

 Chapter 1363: - Looped Space 

A spirit vein was torn out of the mountain valley and placed into this folded space in order to supply it with energy. Surely the person who had left behind this folded space would not have conducted this huge operation just to nourish a mere Dongxu Gourd, right? There had to be something more to it. At this moment, vipin also came to the same conclusion. He shot a glance at shakshi and the others and noticed the lack of surprise on their faces. 

From the look of it, it seemed like they had known this in advance as well, which was also the reason they were willing to lend their strength to help Harshit obtain the Dongxu Gourd despite the danger involved. “faarish, we’ll be counting on you!” Harshit said with a solemn nod. “Un. Leave it to me,” faarish replied. Without any hesitation, he executed his secret art once more, and a series of ripples diffused from his glabella into the surroundings. 

The folded space expanded far beyond the spatial seal where they had previously been. The ripples diffused for a very long time, to the point where faarish’s body was beginning to tremble, before they finally came to a halt. “How is it?” faarish had to gasp for air for quite a while before he managed to recover enough to reply. 

“I have sensed some ancient objects, but I’m not too sure if they are treasures.” “Lead the way!” Harshit said. As soon as the order was given, faarish began making his way forward. After a roughly ten minutes journey, the crowd suddenly came to a halt with perplexed frowns on their faces. “Judging from the river in the sky, it doesn’t seem like we are getting anywhere. Could we possibly be trapped within a Confinement Formation?” shakshi asked with a slightly perturbed voice. 

Throughout their journey, she could not help but realize that no matter where they traveled to, the river of spiritual energy still appeared to be at the exact same relative position to them in the sky. It was almost as if they had not advanced a single step forward! Facing such a situation, Harshit lowered his head and pondered for a moment before saying, “It isn’t a Confinement Formation but the effects of the distortion in space.” 

Achieving a breakthrough to Half-Dimension Sundering realm had granted him a deeper understanding of space, allowing him to swiftly notice what was amiss with the surroundings. “Distortion in space?” shakshi asked doubtfully. The scenery around them appeared to completely normal, devoid of the bizarre warps similar to the cone-shaped vortex they had seen prior to entering this folded space.

 As such, she could not help but harbor some doubts toward Harshit’s judgement. “The distortion in space here spans across the entire folded space, so it isn’t visible to the eye. The space that we commonly see is three-dimensional in nature, and it stretches endlessly into the surroundings. On the other hand, the space within this folded space seems to take the form of a ring. Traveling in a straight line will result in us walking in a loop, bringing us back to the point that we started from,” Harshit explained.

 “On top of that, a distortion in space will cause light to distort as well, and this creates the illusion that we are walking in a straight line even though we are effectively walking in circles! If we could jump out of this folded space and look at ourselves from above, we should see that our bodies are distorted instead of upright!” Hearing those words, vipin nodded in agreement. 

Distorted spaces were not apparent to those who were standing within them. In a sense, this was similar to how it was not apparent to an individual that the earth was round just by looking at their immediate surroundings. The situation they were currently facing was similar to two endpoints in space connecting with one another, forming a closed loop that resulted in them walking in endless circles. 

“If that’s the case… how do we leave this folded space?” akabar asked apprehensively. Harshit hesitated for a moment before replying, “Shatter the folded space!” Hearing that, shakshi shook her head and said, “Folded spaces aren’t stable. If anything goes wrong while shattering the folded space, there’s a good chance that we might be trapped here for life!” 

Folded spaces were not as stable as spaces in the natural world, and they were incapable of regenerating on their own. So, if someone exerted too much strength, it could result in its complete collapse, and all of them would be reduced to dust. It was also for this reason that it would be unsafe for them to bring the Saint 8-dan Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast in. “This…” Harshit frowned.

 He also understood this much, or else he would have made a move immediately instead of wasting his breath on words. vipin suddenly spoke up. “Actually, there’s no need to shatter this space.” “Oh?” The crowd quickly turned their sights over. “Look at the flow of the spiritual energy above us. No matter where we walk, it remains right above us. This only means that the space around the river is stable, or in other words, it isn’t within the folded space we are in!” vipin explained. 

Looks of realization dawned upon the crowd. Indeed, if the river was within the looped folded space as well, its relative position to them should change along with their movement. It did not make sense for it to remain fixed in position. “If we wish to escape from here, we just have to find a way to delve into the river and move against its current,” vipin said. “That’s right!” Harshit’s eyes lit up upon hearing those words, and he quickly nodded in agreement as well. 

“Since that’s the case, let’s make a move!” Without any hesitation, the crowd immediately flew toward the river. The river was actually a spirit vein. As soon as the crowd made their way into it, they felt overwhelming spiritual energy pouring toward them at an incredible speed, causing their breathing to hasten. Harshit waved his hand and formed a massive spatial bubble around the crowd, alleviating the pressure resulting from the strong currents in the river. 

With that, the discomfort was reduced significantly, and they began to make their way forward slowly. This spirit vein could have been passed off as pinnacle spirit stones, but it has expended itself too much in order to sustain this space. What a pity! vipin thought in lamentation. If this massive spirit vein had still been in the mountain valley, it surely would have developed into a spirit mine filled with plenty of pinnacle spirit stones. 

However, in order to allow the space to remain operating normally, the spiritual energy within it had been slowly depleting, to the point where even producing high-tier spirit stones was a problem for it now. But again, if this spirit vein had actually produced pinnacle spirit stones, it would have long been harvested by the other powers. There was no way they would have gotten a chance to obtain the Dongxu Gourd. Right!

 I should try and see if I can communicate with that fellow! Knowing that he would not be in any danger with Harshit around, vipin turned his consciousness into his body, toward his dantian. He swiftly saw the fellow who had willfully dived into his body lying leisurely on the ground, exuding vibes similar to a lazy Sunday morning. 

Seeing how the gourd was able to remain completely unfazed after all the trouble it had caused him, displeasure swiftly filled vipin’s mind. Since that fellow has absorbed my blood and acknowledged me, I should be considered as its master now! Thus, he began trying to establish control over the Dongxu Gourd. Tzzzzz! Under the drive of his power, the Dongxu Gourd began revolving in the air.

 The power of space contained within the Dongxu Gourd began flowing through his body. Huala! Wherever the power of space swept by, the Heaven’s Path zhenqi in the area of his dantian would suddenly collapse inward, as if it had fallen into a depression. What’s going on? vipin narrowed his eyes in alarm. He had spent a great deal of effort to recover his zhenqi, so how could the Dongxu Gourd make it disappear just by emanating a bit of power? No, that’s not it.

 It’s not that my zhenqi has disappeared—the space within my dantian has been changed. I can store much more zhenqi in here now… After a swift scan, vipin was stunned. It was not that his zhenqi had vanished into thin air; the surrounding space had been distorted, allowing him to store much more zhenqi had before. Wait a moment. A thought suddenly emerged in vipin’s mind. 

If I could set up a closed loop within my dantian as well and keep my zhenqi in perpetual revolution, not only will I be able to store more zhenqi, I’ll be able to draw it swifter than before as well, granting me more explosive power. As perplexing as the idea of a looped space might have sounded to one who was encountering it for the first time, it was actually a rather simple concept, and it was not too difficult for him to implement.

 If I could exert all of my zhenqi in an instant, I might just be able to execute the Ocean Cataclysm Sword… With that thought, vipin’s eyes lit up. Even though the Ocean Cataclysm Sword still had a few flaws here and there, the main reason he could not execute it yet was mainly due to his output of zhenqi being too low. No matter how huge a tank was, the amount of water it could pump out was still limited by the width of its pipes. 

The Ocean Cataclysm Sword required far greater outburst of zhenqi compared to the Sea Severing Sword, but if he could set up such a looped space within his dantian, he might just be able to draw forth sufficient zhenqi instantaneously to execute the technique. Let me give a try… Tzzzzzzz! Sensing his strength, the Dongxu Gourd began to revolve slowly, gradually releasing the power of space around vipin’s dantian. 

It was a little similar to a bee constructing its beehive. It seems like it’ll take a while before the construction is complete. Owing to the limitations in his cultivation, vipin knew that it would take him a lot of effort to construct a looped space within his dantian even with the help of the Dongxu Gourd. Nevertheless, it was a relief to see that he was able to drive the Dongxu Gourd without it resisting him. This meant that he had really managed to assimilate the latter. 

Watching the construction of the folded space in his dantian, vipin sighed helplessly. It’ll be fine as long as it doesn’t cause any trouble. Just that, I’ll need quite a bit of spiritual energy to complete the construction, so I need to start looking for spirit stones once more… Due to his cultivation of the Saint Ascension Decipher, his zhenqi capacity far exceeded that of an ordinary cultivator. 

However, with the setting up of a looped space, he would require a lot more zhenqi in order to fill it up. Making a rough calculation, he would require ten times as much as what he had at the moment! This meant that he would have to gather spirit stones, absorb the spiritual energy within them, convert that into zhenqi, and deposit it into his looped space. But given how poor he was at the moment, where was he supposed to look for more spirit stones?

 If it really comes down to it, perhaps I should get mohan to compile a list of cultivators who are on the verge of a breakthrough in the Sanctum of Sages and ‘share’ their lightning tribulation when it comes, vipin contemplated seriously. He had benefited greatly from absorbing energy from the lightning tribulation during his previous breakthrough to Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle.

 Since he was able to do that for his lightning tribulation, there should not be any reason he could not do the same for the other lightning tribulations. With that, he should be able to fill up his dantian easily without any trouble. I should have a discussion with harshit later on and request to observe his lightning tribulation. vipin nodded as he made up his mind on the matter. After the previous absorption, the energy harnessed within ordinary lightning tribulations would not have much use to him anymore. 

However, the lightning tribulation that Harshit would have to face when he pushed for a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm should be able to meet his standards. “Look, what’s that?” While vipin was deep in thought, a sudden exclamation from the group pulled him back to reality. Raising his head to take a look, he realized that they had already reached the end of the river flow.

 A mountain range filled with peaks that rose right above the clouds appeared before his eyes. However, on second look, he realized that the mountain was not real. It felt fleeting and beyond reach, a little like a painting someone had hung at the horizon of the world or perhaps just a mere mirage, a product of one’s imagination. “That’s the highest level of painting, World Composition!”

 Harshit remarked grimly. “World Composition?” “A painting at the level of World Composition far exceeds the realm Evocative Vividness, reaching a level where even humans can enter and live within the painting,” Harshit said. Hearing those words, vipin nodded. He took a closer look at the painting, and suddenly, a feeling of déjà vu came to him. 

He racked his brain in an attempt to capture the source of this feeling of familiarity when his eyes narrowed in astonishment. “This mountain range… Isn’t it the same as the one in the painting that the Qingtian Emperor made me decipher?”

 ------oOo------ 

Chapter 1364: - You Again! 

Back in the rosaat empire, the Qingtian Emperor visited the Painter Guild with a copper mask in hand, seeking help to remove the seal on a painting he had. In the end, vipin was the one who managed to remove the seal, and beneath it, he found an illusory image of master shake. And for him to see a higher level painting that depicted the identical mountain range to the one he had seen before... Could they be depicting the same location?

 master shake's image isn't on the painting though. Did the painter intentionally choose not to draw it, or did he not notice master shake's presence?vipin frowned. Flicking his wrist, vipin took out the painting he had acquired from the Qingtian Emperor and compared it to the mountain range on the ninth level painting before him. 

The features were completely identical to one another, well, with the exception of the lake of bathing ladies. "That's the [White Creek Mountain] of the Empire Alliance. It's located at a place very far away from the Sanctum of Sages, such that even a Saint 7- dan beast would require a flight of three months in order to reach there!" Taking a glance at the painting in vipin's hand, Harshit said. 

He was slightly surprised initially to see that vipin had a painting of the same scenery as the ninth level painting before them, but he didn't think too much into it. After all, due to the splendid scenery at the White Creek Mountain, there were quite a few paintings of it circulating out there in the world. "White Creek Mountain..." vipin muttered beneath his breath as he tightened his fists.

 "While the painting you have can't compete with the ninth level painting up there, it's still a commendable work of art. It has managed to bring out the splendor and beauty of the mountain range in full." Harshit complimented. This was a painting that could astound all painters in the rosaat empire, but to Harshit's eyes, it could only be considered to be 'commendable'. "Indeed…" vipin replied perfunctorily as he kept the painting back to his storage ring with his mind wandering somewhere else.

 Now that he knew that the mountain range depicted in the painting was the White Creek Mountain, he would have to make a trip over there to take a look. Since master shake's apparition was spotted there, there was a good chance that he might find master shake's ancient domain over there too. 

Hu! While the two of them were chatting, the spatial bubble rose up from the river and arrived before the massive ninth level painting. "Are we able to enter this painting too?" Looking at the lifelike painting before him, vipin asked in curiosity. There was bound to be a reason as to why the elder who had left the Dongxu Gourd here would leave a ninth level painting here as well. If they could enter the painting, they might just be able to unravel the secrets behind this folded space. "It should be possible…" Harshit pondered for a moment before nodding. 

"I'll head in to take a look then." vipin said with a smile before heading in. This painting was not drawn on a paper but on top of the folded space. It consisted of multiple layers stitched together by the fabric of space, so vipin had to fly for quite some time before he finally arrived before the massive mountain range. The sheer expanse the mountain range took granted it an imposing and grand aura. 

Flying upward, vipin soon arrived at where he had replaced master shake's image with the bathing ladies, and he swiftly scanned the area. A moment later, he shook his head in disappointment. There was nothing special to be seen here. There was no apparition of master shake or any hidden folded spaces and the such. Nevertheless, there should still be some reason why the elder chose to leave this ninth level painting in here…vipin mumbled contemplatively beneath his breath. 

If this ancient domain was really left behind by Ancient Sage faraj, everything would make perfect sense. He was master shake's servant, and the reason why he left behind this painting was likely to remind future generations that there was something lying in the White Creek Mountain! vipin continued scanning through the mountain range, but he was unable to find anything or note.

 Eventually, he could only return with empty hands. When he finally returned back to Harshit and the others' side, the mountain range suddenly shuddered slightly before dissipating silently. "This painting has been around for too long. It's likely that time had already left it tattered throughout, and the only reason why it's still able to maintain its original appearance is likely only because no one has touched it yet. 

Your act of entering the painting had placed too much stress on the painting, thus inevitably resulting in its dissipation." Harshit explained. The slightly stunned vipin nodded in realization. In a sense, this was similar to how even if old possessions were able to retain their beautiful outer appearances, their worn out within would only cause them to crumble to dust upon touch. vipin took one last glance at the dissipated painting before turning his gaze back forward. 

A rather wide passageway had appeared before them. Following behind Harshit and the others' footsteps, he landed on top of the passageway. After all of the spatial distortion he had been through, it felt reassuring to have his feet planted onto solid ground. "The artifact that I sensed is in there!" faarish said with eyes gleaming with excitement. As soon as he stepped onto the passageway, the fuzzy feeling he had received from the treasure before suddenly turned extremely distinct. 

As long as they were to walk down this path, they should be able to find quite a few good stuff. "Great!" Hearing that the treasure was located not too far away from them, the crowd immediately felt energized, and they began making their way forward. Before long, a palace unfolded before their eyes. While it was called a palace, it wasn't too big or extravagant. Instead, its ancient design seemed to be communicating the long history behind it. "It's likely that there might be danger in here.

 Let me head in to take a look first." Harshit said before taking the lead forward. The gates of the palace were carved from stone, and it was densely filled with inscriptions. "These are Spatial Inscriptions, unique characters which Ancient Sage faraj has created! Through studying these characters, one could comprehend the essence of space. Our clan has a detailed interpretation of these words."

 Harshit exclaimed in astonishment. "Spatial Inscriptions?" vipin looked at those characters contemplatively for a moment before nodding. He had seen those words at the faraj Palace as well. The Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm was written using these words. Back then, he had no idea what those words meant, but he still managed to learn the battle technique through emulating the form of those words. "If that's the case, does that mean that the ancient domain is really left behind by Ancient Sage faraj?" 

shakshi asked in agitation. Even though Ancient Sage faraj was master shake's servant, his true strength was no weaker than the founder of the Sanctum of Sages, Ancient Sage Bo Shang. More importantly, his comprehension of space had reached an extremely high level. If they could obtain his heritage, it would only be a matter of time before they achieved a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan or even Saint 9-dan. 

"That's most likely to be the case... But it's a little weird though. My clan has a huge collection of books detailing the life of Ancient Sage faraj, but we have never heard that he has left behind such an ancient domain before!" Harshit said with a bewildered frown. "As complicated as this ancient domain appears to be, to experts of the caliber of an Ancient Sage, it's something that they can create on a whim.

 I think it's likely that not even Ancient Sage faraj remembered about this ancient domain he had left behind…" faarish said. Coming from a clan of treasure hunters, he had come into contact with simply too many treasures in the world. There were many ancient domains which appeared to be mystifyingly profound to those of the later generations, and the treasures within them were incredibly valuable too. 

However, to those who had left them behind, those might not bear much significance at all. The difference in realms inevitably led to a huge difference in how they assessed the value of things. "That's true." vipin nodded in agreement. Take him for example, he wouldn't even blink an eye if someone were to throw a million high-tier spirit stones before him. However, in the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, just the possession of a single high-tier spirit stone could already be considered as great wealth. 

Similarly, while the Dongxu Gourd might seem to be incomparably valuable to them, it might just be something that an Ancient Sage would just toss away casually. "Harshit, since you recognize those characters, what is written on there?" faarish asked. "It's a message intended for the later generations who discover this ancient domain. The general meaning is that those who are able to come this far are bound to have a deep understanding of space and are qualified to obtain his heritage. 

Ah, the way to open the door is also detailed on it…" Harshit said as he examined the inscriptions on the wall closely. After many years of studying these Spatial Inscriptions, the sant kabila had already compiled a book that allowed others to interpret the meaning behind these characters. "Heritage? Does this meant to say that the heritage of Ancient Sage faraj lies in the palace?" 

"That seems so." Harshit nodded. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I'm going to open the door now, so be careful. It isn't easy for us to come to this point, so nothing must go wrong at this moment…" After saying those words, he took a step backward before he raised his hand and tapped his finger forward. A surge of zhenqi poured forth and struck the gates. 

He sent out a total of three such surges of zhenqi in a '品' formation, and energy began rippling across the surface of the gates. 'Jiyaya!', it began to slowly open. Harshit immediately drove his zhenqi to create a protective barrier around him in preparation for what would appear. Ancient Sage faraj was a respected and celebrated figure, but since he had left his heritage behind here, he must have set up all kinds of trials in order to assess the qualification of those who sought his heritage. 

It would be better for them to proceed carefully. Harshit stepped into the palace, and some time later, he waved his hand to beckon for the others and said, "There's no danger. Come in!" The crowd quickly swarmed in and found themselves standing within a hall. It was completely empty, except for a sculpture erected not too far away. "It's Ancient Sage faraj!" Upon seeing the face on the sculpture, vipin exclaimed. 

He had seen Ancient Sage faraj back in the faraj Palace, so naturally, he could recognize the sculpture here too. "This is Ancient Sage faraj?" Despite coming from illustrious backgrounds, this was the first time they were seeing Ancient Sage faraj's sculpture. "I have seen before Ancient Sage faraj's painting, that's indeed him." Harshit replied before directing a perplexed glance at vipin. "vipin, how did you know it's him?" 

Ancient Sage faraj had maintained a low profile in his lifetime, so there weren't too many records on him. The sant kabila was only able to recognize the other party through a painting they had in their possession, so how was the young man before him able to recognize it with a look? "You said earlier that those words were left behind by Ancient Sage faraj, so I thought that the sculpture must be him as well…" vipin replied sheepishly. 

The faraj Palace carried the secret of the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel, so it was best for him to avoid talking about it for the tie being. On the other hand, seeing that vipin was unwilling to speak about the matter, Harshit also didn't push him for a response either. Everyone had their own private encounters and secrets, and there was no purpose in insistently dredging them up. Instead, he walked over to the sculpture, kneeled onto the ground, and respectfully kowtowed a few times before standing up once more.

 "Our sant kabila's understanding of spatial laws originated from Ancient Sage faraj's heritage, so our ancestor has made a rule that if any member of the sant kabila were to encounter Ancient Sage faraj's sculpture or will, we must kowtow to him to honor him as our grandteacher!" Harshit explained. 

"The sant kabila's understanding of spatial laws originated from Ancient Sage faraj's heritage?" vipin was astonished. He turned to look at akabar and the others, but they seemed to already be aware of this matter. "Space is an intrinsic nature of the world, so unlike swordsmanship and the others, which can be developed into many different Quintessences, it has only one true path. As such, their heritages are more unified…" vipin came to a realization. 

He should have known this earlier. It was no wonder why the Annal of Bedstead Disquisition Sage Luo had left behind was able to perfect the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel. It turned out that the both of them had originated from the same source. "Junior Harshit plays respect to Ancient Sage faraj!" 

After saying those words, Harshit reached out his hand and placed it on the lower pedestal of the sculpture. Weng! A light buzz echoed in the air for a moment before brilliant light burst forth from the sculpture. The unmoving sculpture slowly opened its eyes. "The will of Ancient Sage faraj…" shakshi, akabar, and the others widened their eyes in shock, and without any hesitation, they kneeled to the ground. 

One must know that Ancient Sage faraj was an expert which was even older than the founder of their respective heritages, such that even those founders would have to kneel down and address him as 'senior'. "Back then, while I was passing by here, I happen to chance upon the seed of the Dongxu Gourd, so I decided to plant it, hoping that it would be of some help to the later generations. 

The fact that you are able to come this far shows that you have achieved a deep comprehension of space and is qualified to obtain my heritage…" the sculpture began speaking. "Thank you, Ancient Sage faraj…" Everyone felt agitated to receive Ancient Sage faraj's recognition. Harshit was just about to utter some words of gratitude when he suddenly realized that not too far away, vipin was still standing. 

A frown emerged on his forehead as he berated, "vipin, why are you not paying your respects to Ancient Sage faraj…" But barely after those words were spoken, Ancient Sage faraj's sculpture had also turned his head over, and a horrified look appeared on his face, "You again!" 

------oOo------ 

Chapter 1365: - Collapse of the Ancient Domain 

 “You recognize me?” vipin was taken aback. “You made me come to see the flaws in my cultivation, so you can be considered half a teacher to me. How could I not recognize you?” the sculpture replied. “Flaws in Ancient Sage faraj’s cultivation?” “Half a teacher?” “Does this mean that… vipin has actually offered pointers to Ancient Sage faraj?”

 The teeth of Harshit, shakshi, and the others clattered from shock upon hearing those words. The significance of this matter was truly big, to the point that knowing too much might even cost them their lives! “But… aren’t you a fragmented soul?” vipin asked in intrigue. Even though they had met once another in the faraj Palace, each fragmented soul should have been an independent existence. 

Normally, it should have been impossible for any of Ancient Sage faraj’s fragmented souls outside of the faraj Palace to share memories with those within, so how did the one before him recognize him? “Each fragmented soul is an independent existence, but the order in which they are created is significant, too.

 It’ll be nigh impossible for fragmented souls that are created earlier to read into the memories of those who are created later, but as for fragmented souls that are created later, through some special means, it isn’t too difficult for them to share the memories of those that were created earlier. Not to mention, you are even carrying my heritage along with you, so it’s even easier for me to do so,” the sculpture explained. vipin nodded in realization. 

He had been carrying the faraj Palace with him wherever he went, and while it was currently stored in his storage ring, considering Ancient Sage faraj’s unfathomable mastery over space, it was not too difficult for him to figure out what had happened within. “It’s no wonder you tamed the Dongxu Gourd and got here so quickly. Your presence here explains everything. Ahem, I still have some things to attend to, so… Goodbye!” With a sudden ‘kacha!’, a crack ran through the sculpture. 

Following which, the imposing aura that was compelling subservience in the crowd receded like an ebbing tide. Boom! Following which, the sculpture abruptly exploded into countless fragments amid a cloud of dust, and it took a long while before everything settled on the ground. 

“This…” “Ancient Sage faraj’s will… has dissipated? But he hasn’t told us what the heritage is yet!” With twitching eyebrows, Harshit and the others clawed at their hair, unable to believe the situation unfolding right before them. They had traveled far to get there, and after a great deal of hard work, they had finally been just a step away from obtaining the heritage when the sculpture abruptly exploded before their eyes, and the will harnessed within it dissipated. What the heck was this? 

They slowly turned toward vipin and said, “vipin…” Facing the glares of the crowd, vipin was completely dumbfounded as well. Was that Ancient Sage faraj not a little too unreliable? He had also dissipated the previous time before saying what the heritage was! In fact, this time around, he had barely said anything at all.

 He had seen so many wills… but in terms of speed, that fellow was surely the first! It was no wonder he could come up with battle techniques such as the Unbounded Voyager. It turned out to be completely aligned with his innate nature! But thinking of it again, master shake was rather fast as well. They had met two times so far, but each time, he did not manage to get the solution for the Innate Fetal Poison out of him. 

This master and servant pair… No wonder the two of them managed to click with one another! Under the murderous glares that were intensifying by the moment, vipin replied with twitching lips, “Ahem, maybe this is a test posed to us by Ancient Sage faraj? He might have hidden the heritage somewhere in this folded space and want us to find it ourselves?” That had been the case in the faraj Palace too.

 After Ancient Sage faraj’s will dissipated, he had managed to find the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel through studying the three words ‘faraj Palace’ at the entrance. Considering that it was the same Ancient Sage faraj they were talking about, he was likely to go by the same pattern. Hearing those words, the crowd traded doubtful gazes, seemingly trying to ascertain the likelihood of vipin’s words being true. 

Harshit pondered for a moment before saying, “Back then, before our old ancestor obtained Ancient Sage faraj’s heritage and comprehended the spatial laws, he also seemed to have gone through a similar experience. “vipin is right. A person like Ancient Sage faraj would only pass down his heritage to those who have undergone his careful selection. It wouldn’t make sense for him to give his all to someone he has only met once! 

“Let’s comb through the area. We might just be able to find something.” Seeing that Harshit had covered up for him, vipin heaved a sigh of relief. shakshi and the others nodded before getting to their feet to search the area. The walls of the palace were also made of some kind of mysterious stone, and just like the gates, there were characters inscribed on them as well. shakshi and the others could not interpret those characters, so they could only turn to Harshit for help. 

“These characters aren’t a cultivation technique but just inscriptions to fortify the defenses of the palace. Even though this is a folded space—thus, there are no storms to weather—this fortification played a crucial role in allowing the palace to remain standing even after the passing of many millenniums,” Harshit explained. Regardless of weather conditions, all structures would still eventually wear down with time. 

Without the fortification inscriptions, the palace would have long collapsed from the accrued damage. Seeing that these characters meant nothing at all, the crowd was a little disappointed. At this point, shakshi suddenly thought of something and turned to faarish. “The heritage should also be considered a treasure, too. faarish, do you sense anything in the area?” Since faarish had been able to lead them there, there was a chance he would be able to lead them to the heritage left behind by Ancient Sage faraj as well. 

“I’ll give it a try.” faarish nodded before activating his unique ability. This ability of his could only be considered to be tapping into his bloodline rather than activating it, so while it would cause some damage to him, it was not to the point where he would be incapacitated for an entire month. Opening the third eye in between his eyebrows, he swept the area swiftly before suddenly coming to a halt. 

“I sense something weird in that direction…” He pointed in a direction as he said those words. The crowd quickly turned their gazes over. It was directed toward the area just beneath the sculpture. Rummaging through the shattered stone fragments, they soon found traces of a folded space. “Wonderful!” The eyes of the crowd lit up, and Harshit raised his finger and tapped on the folded space.

 Weng! With a brilliant burst of light, a line of words surged out of the folded space and appeared before the crowd. “Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist!” vipin read out. He had thought that Ancient Sage faraj had just said those words on a whim, but who would have thought that he had really left his heritage behind? “Legend has it that Ancient Sage faraj’s strongest battle techniques involve his finger, sword, fist, and palm, and they carry the prefix ‘Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow’.

 The palm art is at Saint intermediate-tier, the fist art is at Saint high-tier, and the sword art is at Saint pinnacle… Even the old ancestor of my sant kabila was unable to find those battle techniques, but to think that we would actually stumble on one of them here…” Harshit was so agitated that his eyes were glowing. “Finger, sword, fist, and palm?” vipin was taken aback. He had learned the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm before, and it was indeed a Saint intermediate-tier battle technique. 

He had thought that it was just an independent battle technique, but to think that it would actually be part of an entire series! He quickly looked at the words in the sky and commanded in his mind, Flaws! Huala! A book materialized in the Library of Heaven’s Path. Placing his finger on it, a constipated look swiftly appeared on vipin’s face. There are even more flaws with it, vipin thought with a shake of his head. 

Just the 27 flaws in the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm had left him feeling deeply uncomfortable within, but this one actually had 31 flaws. To be fair, it was a decent battle technique with formidable strength, but… how could he bring himself to cultivate such a flawed technique? Ever since he started cultivating the Heaven’s Path Divine Art, he had already grown accustomed to practicing skills that were devoid of flaws. 

Like a germaphobe, even the slightest hint of a fault would leave him feeling deeply uncomfortable, as if bugs were crawling over his skin… and there were actually 31 of them in this manual! vipin swiftly gathered all of the fist art manuals that he had practiced so far and compiled them together with it. 

Compile! There are still 28 flaws. Even though vipin had seen quite a number of fist art manuals in the past, their tier was simply too low. They were still sorely lacking to complement the faults found in a Saint high-tier fist art. Several hundred thousand books, but they only managed to remove three flaws in total. vipin shook his head and consoled himself. Forget it, I’ll just have to find more fist art manuals when I return to the Sanctum of Sages to perfect the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist. 

In any case, there were plenty of secret manuals in the Sanctum of Sages. As long as he could clear the examination for them, he should be able to gather quite a number of fist art manuals. With time, he would surely be able to perfect it! At this moment, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began trembling, and the space around them began distorting. “Crap, this is bad. 

The dissipation of Ancient Sage faraj’s will and the taking away of the Dongxu Gourd have led to instability within the space. At this rate, it’ll soon collapse,” Harshit exclaimed in shock. Similar to the Mountain Gate of the Sanctum of Sages, the structure of this folded space was simply too complicated. Without someone to sustain its operations, it would swiftly collapse at the slightest hint of impact. And clearly, this was what was happening at the moment. “Collapse?”

 Everyone’s face paled. As powerful as they were, they were still limited by the space they were in. If the folded space were to collapse, there was a good chance that they would be crushed between dimension rifts and die… unless they could achieve a level that surpassed this folded space! But that would require them to be at Saint 9-dan at the very minimum! “We need to leave right now, or else we might just die in here!” Harshit exclaimed anxiously. 

“But… I have only remembered two lines of the entire fist art!” shakshi exclaimed with a reddened face. “I have also only managed to remember two lines,” akabar said. There were countless cultivators who dream of obtaining Ancient Sage faraj’s battle technique, and it was a stroke of luck that they had managed to find it. Yet, to have to leave without memorizing its entirety… they just could not get over the indignation in their hearts. “Your lives are more important. 

No matter how powerful the battle technique is, it’ll be futile if you don’t have the life to practice it. I have also only managed to memorize four lines myself. Hurry up, let’s go!” Harshit urged with a wave of his hand. This battle technique had been created by Ancient Sage faraj, and it harnessed the essence of his wisdom. All in all, it contained more than several hundred lines, and despite their superior memory as cultivators, it would still take them at least an hour to memorize everything. 

Barely a minute had passed so far, and it was already a formidable feat for them to have been able to memorize two to four lines. But again, between a battle technique and their lives, it was clear which was more important! “Alright!” Seeing that the surrounding space was shaking more and more intensely, such that dimension rift cracks had started appearing around the area, shakshi and the others realized that they could not afford to waste any more time. 

They quickly followed behind Harshit to dash out of the folded space. Naturally, vipin followed suit. They had proceeded slowly to carefully scan the area so as to ensure that they did not miss anything important when they were walking through the passageway toward the palace earlier, but with danger right behind them, they could not afford to do that. They flitted forward desperately as if their lives were on the line, and it took merely two breaths before they returned to the top of the river flow. 

Harshit swiftly summoned a spatial bubble once more and wrapped it around the entire group before driving it forward with all his might. Ten breaths later, they returned to the bottom of the river, where they had first encountered the Dongxu Gourd. Kacha! Kacha! Barely after they returned there, they saw a huge dimension rift swiftly devouring the palace and the river behind them. 

“That was a close shave…” Cold sweat trickled down the crowd’s backs. It was fortunate that they did not hesitate for too long there, or else they might have died. “Let’s quickly get out of here,” Harshit said as he used a secret art of the sant kabila to forcefully tear open an exit in the folded space. 

Everyone quickly leaped up and headed out. Huuu huuuu! A deafening gale whistled by their ears, and intense vertigo swallowed them, leaving them in a deeply disoriented state. Fortunately, this only lasted for a moment. When they opened their eyes once more, they were already back at the cavern.

 Po! Barely after they managed to find their footing once more, the sesame-sized spatial distortion suddenly emanated a blinding burst of light before vanishing from view. The ancient domain had really fully collapsed! 

------oOo------ 

Chapter 1366: - Let Me Teach You! 

“The Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist…” The disappearance of the folded space meant that the ancient domain had become nothing more than a part of history. Even though they were relieved that they had managed to survive the collapse, they still could not help but feel dismay regarding the loss of Ancient Sage faraj’s heritage. An unparalleled battle technique was right before them… and they missed it just like that. 

“Even though I only managed to memorize a few lines, it’s still a battle technique left behind by Ancient Sage faraj. If I can internalize it well, I should be able to raise my fighting prowess significantly,” akabar said. “Why don’t we do this? Let’s regurgitate the content that we memorized, put it all together, and analyze it. This way, we can at least make the best out of what we know of the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist?”

“I guess that’s all we can do now!” shakshi and the others quickly nodded in agreement. A battle technique of the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist’s tier was extremely difficult to comprehend. Every single line carried a deep conception and great significance. Even though they had only managed to memorize a couple of lines, if they could just study it thoroughly, they should still be able to benefit greatly from it. “Harshit, you have the best memory of us all. Why don’t you go first?”

 “Un.” Harshit nodded. “The four lines that I have memorized are…” As one of the top geniuses of the sant kabila, he possessed superb memory. In just a short one to two minutes, he actually managed to memorize more than a hundred words. Hearing that what they had memorized was the exact same as what Harshit had said, akabar and the others heaved a sigh of relief. Just as they were about to start analyzing what those four lines meant, faarish suddenly spoke up. 

“I think I got the fifth line…” Everyone quickly turned their gazes over with their bodies trembling in agitation. “You memorized the fifth line?” “I think so.” faarish nodded as he quickly regurgitated the fifth line. As a treasure hunter, possessing a good memory was of vital importance in order to be able to put clues together. As good as Harshit’s memory was, it was still slightly lacking compared to faarish’s. 

“Amazing. Even though it’s only five lines, it seems to have already opened up a new world to me,” Harshit remarked in awe as he ruminated over the words for a moment. At this point, a thought suddenly flashed across his mind, and he turned to the silent vipin. “vipin, what about you? How many lines have you remembered?” “Me?” vipin had been too preoccupied lamenting over the destruction of the folded space that he had not really heard what the others were saying. 

He felt that if he could have gotten the Myriad Anthive Queen to swallow the space, he would have been able to increase the space in the Myriad Anthive nest significantly. He was slightly startled by the abrupt question before responding, “Oh, I managed to memorize everything.” “You m-memorized… everything?” Flabbergasted. They were all Saint 7-dan and Half Saint 8-dan experts, possessing superior analytical abilities, but even so, they only managed to memorize five lines in total. 

But he actually memorized everything? “Indeed.” vipin nodded. “Then… can you recite the content for us?” Harshit asked in agitation. “Sure. Actually, why don’t I just write it down for you? This way, you can refer to it whenever you want to…” With a tap of his finger, a surge of zhenqi shot forth from vipin’s fingers before abruptly bursting apart in the sky, forming a massive screen of light. 

Slowly, words began surfacing on the light screen. It was the cultivation method for the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist! He just had to use the Library of Heaven’s Path to collect the entire manual, so it did not even take him half a breath to memorize everything. All he had to do now was bring it out word for word, so it was no trouble at all. “This…” Looking at the screen filled with words before them, everyone gulped as they shot glances of disbelief at vipin.

 To memorize so many words within just a minute or two… Just how in the world did he manage to do it? At this moment, faarish suddenly exclaimed, “Wait a moment, vipin. There are a few words in your manual that are different from what I memorized.” Everyone turned their gazes over and saw faarish pointing toward the third line. Indeed, there were three words in the third line that were different from what they had discussed and agreed on earlier. 

Even though it was only a difference of three words, this alteration gave a completely different direction and conception to the battle technique. Could it be that… even though that fellow did manage to memorize the entire manual, his memory on certain portions was flawed? If that was the case, they should not practice this version of the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist even if it formed a complete manual.

 It was still fine if one failed to memorize a cultivation technique or battle technique—what was truly dangerous was if one had remembered it incorrectly. Even the slightest mistake in cultivation could possibly lead to one treading down the wrong path, possibly resulting in one’s cultivation going berserk. “Oh. After I was done memorizing the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist, I had some time to examine it closely.

 I realized that the cultivation technique had quite a few problems, so I made some alterations to it. However, due to the limitations of my knowledge, I was only able to correct a couple of the flaws.” vipin sighed, and his head reddened in embarrassment. If he had more Saint high-tier fist art manuals to refer to, he would have been able to correct more of the flaws. So far, of the 31 flaws, he had only managed to correct three of them, which was not even a tenth of the total. 

This was truly a huge failure on his part. “A-alterations?” The crowd nearly spurted a mouthful of blood. While we were struggling to memorize two to five lines of the manual, you managed to memorize everything and even alter it. Their faces flushed red, and they felt as if they were about to explode from the sheer frustration bubbling within them. Quick at setting up formations? Fine, we’ll tolerate that! Quick at deciphering poison? Alright, we’ll accept that too! 

Quick at helping others achieving a breakthrough? Fine, we’ll take that grudgingly as well… But to be able to memorize a manual that quickly and even have time to alter it… Don’t you think that you are showing off a bit too much? “Why don’t you just give me a while first? If I can refer to the fist art manuals back at the Sanctum of Sages, I should be able to perfect it further, thus bringing its might up to a new height,” vipin said. 

It would not be nice for him to pass down such a disgustingly flawed battle technique to others. It would be best if he could perfect it before imparting it to them. akabar pondered for a moment before replying. “It’s fine. I’ll just memorize the original version…” “I think I’ll go with the original version. vipin, may I trouble you to pen down the battle technique prior to your alterations?” 

shakshi asked as well. Even their old ancestors would dare not alter a battle technique from an expert of that caliber easily. Despite the extraordinary feats that vipin had achieved so far, they were hesitant to put themselves on the line to cultivate a battle technique that he had altered. “Alright then.” Knowing what the crowd was worried about, vipin did not insist on the matter. With a wave of his hand, he reverted the portions that he had altered to their original version.

 Seeing that the content had been changed to its original state, the crowd hurriedly took out some paper and brushes to copy the content down. It would be disastrous if they memorized the content incorrectly, so it would be much safer for them to copy everything down instead. An hour later, they were finally done copying the manual. “vipin… earlier, Ancient Sage faraj said that he knows you. Have the both of you met one another before?” Harshit asked curiously. 

“I happened to stumble into one of his ancient domain once, and after clearing his tests, I obtained his Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm,” vipin said without going into detail or revealing the existence of the faraj Palace. “I see!” The crowd nodded in realization. “Then… what about when Ancient Sage faraj talked about you seeing through the flaws in his cultivation?” akabar asked. 

“How could that possibly be true? The truth is that I happened to chance upon a book that detailed the flaws in the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm, so I spoke about it casually before Ancient Sage faraj’s will. Who would have thought that he would think so highly of me after the matter?” vipin said. Offering pointers to an Ancient Sage was simply too shocking a matter. 

Having something like that pinned to his reputation was not necessarily something good, especially considering how well-respected Ancient Sage faraj was. In any case, he was determined to deny this matter to the end. As for whether the others would believe him or not, that was not his problem anymore. “This…” Harshit and the others felt that vipin was not being completely honest to them, but his explanation was something that they could accept, so they decided to probe no further. 

“Let’s return!” Even though Harshit had failed to obtain the Dongxu Gourd this time around, he did manage to achieve a breakthrough in his cultivation. As for the others, they also managed to obtain the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Fist, so it was not a wasted trip for them either. Shortly after walking out of the cavern, they were met with the Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast. From it, they learned that husain and the others had already regained consciousness two hours ago and left the area immediately. 

Toward this matter, Harshit could not help but feel a tinge of disappointment. He had been hoping to try my newfound strength on that fellow so as to vent his many years of frustration, but who knew that the fellow would actually flee? The Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast was not an aerial saint beast. While it was capable of moving at an incredible speed due to its superior cultivation, in terms of endurance, it still came nowhere near the Seven-colored Divine Crane. 

So, vipin moved the Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast into the Myriad Anthive Nest before leaving the valley with the others on the back of the Seven-colored Divine Crane. “Here are your formation flags!” vipin walked up to shakshi and passed a huge stack of flags over. He had borrowed them from the other party for the mission, and since the mission had come to an end, it was only right for him to return them. Otherwise, how would he be any different from bandits?

 “My understanding of formations is still deeply lacking, so you can keep the flags. I think you will be able to do much more with them,” shakshi said with a wave of her hand. In the view of others, she was not just a talented demonic tunist—she was also a proficient formation master, a true genius. However, after meeting the young man standing before her, she realized that her skills were still sorely lacking. After witnessing what the young man was capable of, she was embarrassed to even tell others that she was a formation master. “This won’t do. 

How can I simply take your stuff like that?” vipin quickly shook his hands. Those were grade-8 formation flags, capable of setting up even grade-8 pinnacle formations. Even a single one of those was worth a huge fortune, let alone an entire bunch of them. He did not want to owe a debt to others over material possessions. 

Not to mention that the other party was a lady, and they were currently before his future brother-in-law. He had to make sure to conduct himself well! “If you think it’s too much as a gift, it’ll do as long as you offer me some pointers when I’m ready to push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan. 

That way, I will be the one who has gotten a good deal instead,” shakshi said. Of course, it was not because she was too rich that she gave so many valuable formation flags away for free. She was intending to make use of this opportunity to win vipin’s goodwill so that she would be able to engage his help in the future, especially when she needed to push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan. 

“This…” vipin frowned. He did not think that he would have much trouble helping shakshi achieve a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan, but the main problem was that how long would she take. Beyond the third month of the next year, he probably would not have time to attend to such miscellaneous matters anymore. With this thought in mind, he turned to shakshi and asked, “How long will you need before you are ready to push for a breakthrough to Saint 8- dan?” “How long?”

 A confident smile emerged on shakshi’s lips as she replied, “I’m currently at Saint 7-dan advanced stage, ready to achieve a breakthrough soon. As long as I cultivate diligently, I should be able to successfully make a breakthrough within three years. After reaching Saint 7-dan pinnacle, I will have to slowly reinforce my cultivation in order to build up a strong foundation for Saint 8-dan. 

I will require ten to twenty years for that.” “Three years and ten years? That is to say that you will need at least thirteen years before you can push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan?” vipin asked. “That’s right.” shakshi nodded. “My rate of cultivation can already be considered to be faster compared to the others in the Sanctum of Sages.

 You might not feel it that much at the moment, but every step forward beyond the Leaving Aperture realm gets increasingly arduous, and the time and effort one has to put in increases exponentially.” vipin nodded in response to those words. He could relate to that. Ever since he reached the Leaving Aperture realm, he could sense that the quantity of spiritual energy he needed to push for a breakthrough was much greater than before, and the time he took to achieve a breakthrough had increased from two hours to four hours. 

Really, the difficulty was so great that it left a numbing sensation on his scalp. If not for that, he would not have been so troubled by the matter. Seeing the awful complexion on the young man’s face, shakshi asked, “vipin, is my rate of cultivation too fast or too slow?” “This…” vipin hesitated for a moment before replying. “Thirteen years is a little too long for me. 

I don’t think I can wait till then… Why don’t we do this instead? You should try to achieve a breakthrough to Saint 7-dan pinnacle on the spot and reinforce your cultivation, and when we finally reach the Sanctum of Sages, I’ll help you push for a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan straight!” 

“Achieve a breakthrough on the spot?” shakshi’s face twitched upon hearing those words. “vipin, you must be messing with me. If I really could really achieve a breakthrough as and when I like, I would have already done so.”

 “I’m not messing with you.” vipin chuckled. “It’s just a breakthrough to Saint 7-dan pinnacle, no problem at all. “Here, I’ll impart a method to you. Twenty minutes, no, that’s too long… Five minutes! I’ll have you achieve a breakthrough within five minutes!”

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